Moby-Dick Chapter 95: The Cassock Summary

  • Ah, Chapter 95: less than a page long, but still one of our favorites.
  • In this chapter, the men cut off the whale’s giant jet-black penis, skin it, and turn the skin into a sleeveless robe for the sailor called the "mincer" to wear. The mincer’s job is to finely chop pieces of blubber for the pot in the try-works. (See next chapter.)
  • Let’s just savor this one more time: there is actually a robe made out of a whale penis in this chapter.
  • Imagine what would happen if Stacey London and the What Not to Wear crew found that in someone’s closet.