For several days after leaving Nantucket, captain Ahab remains secluded in his cabin. When he finally emerges and stands before the crew, he says nothing. Ishmael makes some interesting observations of the captain’s appearance. He has a scar that runs the length of his face: “Whether that mark was born with him or whether it was the scar left by some desperate wound, no one could certainly say.” Regarding the captain’s expression, the author writes, “Moody stricken Ahab stood before them with a crucifixion in his face.”
Ahab also has an ivory leg, “fashioned from the polished bone of the sperm-whale’s jaw.”
