# Fedallah — Moby-Dick character guide > Fedallah in Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** the Parsee, That Parsee, Ahab the Parsee **First appearance:** 0053-l-ahab-s-boat-and-crew-fedallah ## Snapshot A silent Parsee harpooner with a turban and a hidden boat, smuggled aboard by Ahab to serve purposes the crew can only guess at. ## Who they are He appears on deck without ceremony, shadowing Ahab like a second conscience, and the sailors whisper that he was never signed on the ship's papers. He asks no questions, keeps his own counsel, and seems to know the captain's plans before they are spoken. His presence turns the Pequod's hierarchy strange — a private crew within a crew, loyal to one man's obsession rather than the voyage's stated business. ## Relationships ### [Ishmael](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/characters/ishmael) _social_ Fedallah is a mysterious and ominous figure, the harpooner of Ahab's secret boat crew, with whom Ishmael has limited and foreboding interactions. ### [Captain Ahab](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/characters/captain_ahab) _psychological_ Fedallah is Ahab's sinister, prophetic, and seemingly supernatural harpooner, serving as a dark familiar and manipulative influence on the captain. ### [Ishmael](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/characters/ishmael) _social_ Fedallah is a mysterious and ominous figure, the harpooner of Ahab's secret boat crew, with whom Ishmael has limited and foreboding interactions. ### [Captain Ahab](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/characters/captain_ahab) _psychological_ Fedallah is Ahab's sinister, prophetic, and seemingly supernatural harpooner, serving as a dark familiar and manipulative influence on the captain. ## In the story ### [Ahab’s Boat and Crew. Fedallah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/l-ahab-s-boat-and-crew-fedallah) Introduced as the mysterious, turbaned leader of Ahab's secret boat crew. He is described as a phantom-like figure with an unaccountable influence, even authority, over Ahab. ### [LI: The Spirit-Spout](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/li-the-spirit-spout) First to descry the mysterious silvery jet, serving as a nocturnal lookout and adding to the preternatural atmosphere surrounding the voyage. ### [LXXIII: Stubb and Flask Kill a Right Whale; and Then Have a Talk Over Him](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/lxxiii-stubb-and-flask-kill-a-right-whale-and-then-have-a-talk-over-him) His reported superstition about the two whale heads motivates the hunt; Stubb and Flask extensively discuss his diabolical appearance and possible pact with Ahab; he is later seen calmly eyeing the right whale's head and his own hand lines, blending with Ahab's shadow. ### [Leg and Arm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/c-leg-and-arm) Silently attends Ahab. He slides over to steer Ahab's boat without a word when commanded, demonstrating his silent, obedient role in Ahab's quest. ### [CXIII: The Forge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxiii-the-forge) Silently passes by the forge, bowing over the fire as if invoking a curse or blessing on the work, adding an aura of supernatural prophecy. ### [CXVII: The Whale Watch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxvii-the-whale-watch) Crouches watchfully in the bow, reiterates his cryptic prophecies about the hearses and Ahab's death, and states that only hemp (the gallows) can kill Ahab. ### [CXVIII: The Quadrant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxviii-the-quadrant) Kneels silently beneath Ahab during the observation, his face showing a 'sneering triumph' for Ahab and 'fatalistic despair' for himself before gliding away unobserved. ### [The Candles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxix-the-candles) Is seen kneeling silently at the base of the mainmast beneath the doubloon and the flame, with his head bowed away from Ahab, in an enigmatic, worshipful posture. ### [The Hat](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxxx-the-hat) Appears increasingly spectral and strange; he and Ahab share a silent, watchful bond, gazing at each other for hours as if one is the other's shadow. ### [The Symphony](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxxxii-the-symphony) Appears silently, his fixed gaze reflected in the water, acting as an ominous reminder of the fatal prophecy and Ahab's binding fate. ### [CXXXIII: The Chase—First Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxxxiii-the-chase-first-day) Remains eerily calm during the boat's destruction, gazing 'with unastonished eyes' as Ahab struggles in the water. ### [CXXXV: The Chase—Third Day](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/cxxxv-the-chase-third-day) His corpse is discovered lashed to the whale's flank by the harpoon lines, fulfilling the first part of his prophecy about Ahab's hearse. ### [Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/chapters/epilogue) Mentioned in his 'disappearance,' which preceded the final chase. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/characters/fedallah - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moby_dick_se/characters