Moby-Dick Chapter 25: Postscript Summary

  • Ishmael adds one more point that to make whaling seem dignified, nay, royal: the oil used at royal coronations must be whale oil, right? And so the British kings and queens have all been anointed with oil that comes from the work of common seamen on stinking whaling ships.
  • (Note: this may or may not be true—in fact, it probably isn’t true. But it’s hilarious.)