Question

Read this excerpt from chapter 41 of Moby-Dick using comprehension strategies.

If such a furious trope may stand, his special lunacy stormed his general sanity, and carried it, and turned all its concentred cannon upon its own mad mark; so that far from having lost his strength, Ahab, to that one end, did now possess a thousand fold more potency than ever he had sanely brought to bear upon any one reasonable object.
What is the meaning of this excerpt?
Though Ahab is physically weakened, his will for revenge has strengthened him.
Ahab’s anger has increased his physical strength, and he is ready to fire his cannon.
Ahab has always been physically strong, but his desire for revenge has weakened him.
Though Ahab has lost his ability to seek revenge, he still harbors anger and resentment.

Answer 1

Correct choice: "Though Ahab is physically weakened, his will for revenge has strengthened him."

Brief explanation using comprehension strategies:
- Paraphrase: Melville says Ahab’s particular madness (his obsession with the whale) overwhelms his ordinary reason and focuses all his power on that single goal.
- Figurative language: “concentred cannon” and “thousand fold more potency” are metaphors for his mental/volitional force being intensified and focused, not a literal increase in bodily strength or firing of weapons.
- Inference/elimination: The passage emphasizes obsessive focus and increased potency toward revenge, so options claiming literal physical strengthening, weakening of desire, or loss of ability to seek revenge are incorrect.