Stubb

Who Is Stubb? — The Laughing Mate

Stubb is the second mate of the Pequod and perhaps the most mysteriously complex character in Moby-Dick. Where Starbuck wrestles with morality and Ahab burns with obsession, Stubb laughs. He is the character Melville uses to explore how humans cope with cosmic indifference through humor, stoicism, and the deliberate avoidance of serious thought. Stubb doesn’t question Ahab’s motives or anguish over the crew’s fate. Instead, he pursues whales with professional competence, sleeps soundly, and finds entertainment in the darkness.

Stubb’s significance lies in what he represents: a philosophy of acceptance taken to its extreme. While Starbuck embodies conscience and Ahab embodies will, Stubb embodies acceptance. He is neither good nor evil, ambitious nor passive, driven nor defeated. He simply is, moving through events as they come, responding with practical good humor to circumstances he cannot change. In a novel obsessed with the question of how to live in a universe that may be indifferent or hostile, Stubb offers one answer: laugh at it.

Psychology and Personality — The Philosophy of Laughter

Stubb’s psychology is defined by a deliberate refusal to take anything too seriously, including life and death. Melville tells us that “a laugh from him is a laugh worth hearing.” This laughter is not the laughter of joy but of acceptance, a kind of existential chuckle at the human condition. Stubb seems genuinely content. He enjoys his food, sleeps well, and meets challenges with equanimity. Where Starbuck is torn apart by moral conflict, Stubb is whole, if shallow.

What’s remarkable about Stubb is his apparent lack of fear. When Starbuck and Ahab are consumed by anxiety about their fates, Stubb maintains an almost Buddhist calm. This is not stupidity or insensitivity. Stubb is a skilled sailor and a competent officer. Rather, it seems to be a conscious choice to accept what cannot be changed and find contentment within those bounds. His famous pipe, which he smokes constantly, is almost a symbol of this deliberate calm.

Stubb’s personality contains a strain of dark humor. He makes jokes at inappropriate moments, laughs at misfortune, and seems to view tragedy with the same equanimity he views comedy. This has sometimes been interpreted as cruelty or callousness, but Melville suggests something more subtle: Stubb understands that sentiment changes nothing and that laughter is sometimes the only honest response to an absurd situation.

There is a loneliness to Stubb, though he doesn’t appear to feel it acutely. He has no deep relationships on the Pequod, no family waiting at home that we know of, no great ambitions. He exists in the present moment, without either regret or hope. This freedom from emotional attachment could be read as liberation or as a kind of spiritual emptiness.

Character Arc — From Acceptance to Doom

Unlike Starbuck’s arc of increasing conflict, Stubb’s arc is one of consistent constancy. He does not change much through the novel. At the beginning, he is a joking, philosophical sailor. At the end, he is still laughing, even as the Pequod sinks. Melville suggests that this is not weakness but a kind of strength, a refusal to let external events destroy one’s equanimity.

If Stubb has a turning point, it comes not as an internal realization but as an external event. The encounter with Ahab and Ahab’s obsessive monologues do not change Stubb’s fundamental philosophy. Instead, they seem to confirm it. Stubb becomes, if anything, more committed to his philosophy of laughter and acceptance. He serves Ahab not from moral conviction like Starbuck, but simply because that is his job.

Stubb’s constancy suggests something about Melville’s view of the human condition. While Starbuck’s journey teaches us about the tragedy of goodness and moral conflict, Stubb’s unchanging nature teaches us about the possibility of peace through acceptance. He is the character who achieves a kind of contentment, even if it comes at the cost of depth and meaning.

The final phase of Stubb’s arc is his acceptance of death. When the Pequod sinks, Stubb goes down without the despair of Starbuck or the defiance of Ahab. He seems almost unsurprised, as if he always knew this was where the journey would lead. His refusal to be destroyed emotionally, even by death itself, is his final statement.

Key Relationships — The Friendly Stranger

Stubb’s relationships are notably shallow compared to other characters. With Ahab, he has a relationship of professional respect without emotional investment. Ahab’s obsession doesn’t trouble Stubb because Stubb has learned not to be troubled by things he cannot change. He follows Ahab’s orders, performs his duties, and doesn’t lose sleep over larger moral questions.

With Starbuck, there is a kind of mutual incomprehension. Starbuck is tormented by moral questions that Stubb has already decided not to ask. They coexist on the same ship without truly understanding each other. Starbuck might envy Stubb’s peace, while Stubb might pity Starbuck’s anguish. But they don’t form a bond.

With the crew, Stubb has a relationship of friendly authority. He is liked because he is fair and good-humored. Unlike Starbuck, he doesn’t burden the men with his moral concerns. Unlike Ahab, he doesn’t drive them toward destruction through obsession. He simply does his job and lets them do theirs. This makes him, perhaps, the least dangerous and also the least memorable of the officers.

Stubb’s relationship with the whales themselves is purely professional. He pursues them and tries to kill them, but without the personal vendetta that Ahab has or the philosophical unease that Starbuck experiences. To Stubb, the whale is a whale, the object of his profession. This detachment is both his strength and his limitation.

What to Talk About with Stubb — Questions for the Voice Conversations

On Novelium, conversations with Stubb could explore his philosophy of acceptance and the questions his character raises:

“Why do you laugh when others fear? What do you find funny?” This could lead to a discussion of his philosophy and whether laughter is genuine or a mask.

“Do you ever doubt Ahab, or have you truly accepted everything without question?” This invites reflection on whether his acceptance is chosen or default.

“What would you change about your life on the Pequod if you could?” This explores whether Stubb’s contentment is genuine or a form of resignation.

“How do you sleep so soundly when everyone around you is troubled?” This gets at the heart of his peace and whether it’s enviable or hollow.

“If you somehow survived, what would you do next?” This asks whether Stubb has any dreams or aspirations beyond the present moment.

“Do you think you’re wise or just refusing to think?” This invites self-reflection on whether his philosophy is profound or a form of avoiding difficult truths.

Conversations with Stubb on Novelium would offer a counterpoint to Starbuck’s moral anguish, exploring the question of how to be at peace in an uncertain world.

Why Stubb Changes Readers — The Seduction of Acceptance

Stubb intrigues readers because he offers something deeply appealing: peace. In a world of constant anxiety, moral conflict, and uncertainty, Stubb has found a way to be content. Readers want what he has. We are tired of worrying, questioning, and suffering. Stubb suggests that peace is available to us if we simply choose to accept what we cannot change.

Yet Stubb also disturbs readers because his peace comes at a cost. To achieve his equanimity, he has divorced himself from deep feeling, serious purpose, and meaningful connection. He is not ambitious, not passionate, not particularly concerned with others. He exists as a professional, doing his job well but without investing his soul in it. The novel asks whether this is wisdom or a failure of nerve.

Melville presents Stubb without judgment, which makes him more powerful. We cannot simply dismiss Stubb as cowardly or shallow because he is clearly neither. He is competent, admirable in his way, and genuinely at peace. Yet we cannot fully embrace his philosophy either because it seems to leave something essential out of human life.

Stubb changes readers by suggesting that there may be no perfect solution to the problem of existence. Starbuck’s moral seriousness leads to agony. Ahab’s passion leads to destruction. Stubb’s acceptance leads to peace but perhaps at the cost of meaning. Each character offers an incomplete answer to the question of how to live.

Famous Quotes

“I’ll have a laugh with ye, ye burning lugs, before ye die.”

“One daft with strength, the other daft with weakness.”

“Pop! Pop!” (his characteristic laugh, appearing throughout the novel at moments of extreme peril)

“Why should I give myself the toothache? Why should I pity my father, or any one else? I will try to help them; but not myself.”

“I was thinking about the subject when you came along, and, very luckily, you have saved me from torturing my brains about it any further.”