Chapters 5-6 Summary

Ishmael describes the rather uneventful morning breakfast with the boarders of the Spouter Inn. While Ishmael expects to hear some lively stories about whale hunting, he is instead met by an embarrassed and silent group of burly men. During the breakfast scene, Ishmael takes note of the manners and appearances of the other men at the table. Queequeg is of special interest as he uses his harpoon to snag breakfast foods from over the heads of others.

In this chapter, Ishmael describes the variety of people he meets on the streets of New Bedford. Ishmael soon loses his astonishment at Queequeg's oddities as he sees other people on the streets who are just as unusual and savage in appearance as Queequeg. Ishmael sees some people who are obviously well familiar with the whaling business. He also sees others on the streets...