In this chapter, the extent of Ahab’s magnetism over the crew is exemplified by their high regards of their captain as invincible and omnipotent in his battle with Moby Dick. But in reality, Ahab like all humans, especially the small section of one-legged monomaniac men, are fallible. The capsize of Ahab’s boat and loss of his whale-bone leg again forces him to confront his mortality and the extent of his disability. In addition, the drowning of Fedallah fulfills the prophecy of Ahab’s death since he is fated to die after Fedallah. When Ahab becomes fixed on the notion that he is “Fate’s lieutenant,” Starbuck attempts to convince him to change his fate and return home, but Ahab insists that he must carry out fate’s plan, for better or worse.
