Moby-Dick 78-81

ch. 78:
In this chapter, when Tashtego is on top of the whale's head, he is compared to a Turkish Muezzin calling people to prayer. This comparison reinforces the theme of whaling as a religion. It could be interpreted that whaling is the true religion to these men because many of them give up their actual religions to go whaling. They still keep some of the customs that they have, but they still choose to devote their lives to whaling.

ch. 79:
This chapter also reinforces the theme of whaling as a religion when it compares the sperm whale to a god. Possibly whaling could be interpreted as a religion that follows the devil because the whales that the whalers try so hard to catch never want to be caught and the true "god" of this religion, Moby Dick, only causes destruction when the whalers get close enough to capture him.

ch. 80:
It is ironic in this chapter to find out how small a whale's brain is ("ten inches in length and as many in depth") when it has been compared to Plato, a philosopher, so many times. You would think that the whale would have a brain of a bigger size considering its seeming smartness and also the size of the whale. You would think that it would take a bigger brain to even be able to control all the large aspects of the whale's body.

ch. 81:
When it mentions in this chapter that "it is not customary for such venerable leviathans to be at all social" you could compare the older solitary whales with Ahab. The old whales choose to isolate themselves from the crowd and whatever socialization that they do do with the others of their kind is only for their own personal gain.