The title of this chapter, the Specksynder, comes from an old Dutch whaling title which refers to the chief harpooneer. This chapter further describes Ahab as a kind of emperor or king, though he is dressed in shabby sailor’s clothes. The author writes: “Oh, Ahab! What shall be grand in thee, it must needs be plucked at from the skies, and dived for in the deep, and featured in the unbodied air!”
