Chapter 86: Moby Dick

This chapter is dedicated to describing the whales tale and its purposes. The main purpose, besides propulsion, is to strike small boats down being a foreshadow and an example of what has already happened. The Tail is described to an elephants trunk giving the idea that the tale is as a delicate and graceful instrument as the trunk. Near the end of the chapter Ishmael says that the whale only shows his tail and back but we never see his face. He also mentions that when the whale dives they seem to be pointing to the heavens. Could this be an idea of god? We only see glimpses but never the whole thing.