Inside the story
Meet Father Mapple
At the story’s outset, Father Mapple is the respected chaplain of the New Bedford Whaleman’s Chapel, where sailors gather before going to sea. A former harpooneer, he preaches a powerful sermon on Jonah to the congregation, including Ishmael.
On the page
A hale, robust old preacher with a weathered seaman's face, ascending a rope-ladder to a ship's-prow pulpit; dressed in plain clerical black over a frame still hardy from his whaling youth.
