For anyone reading this blog, there’s a pretty good chance that, like me, you’re also a fan of Jeopardy, America's Favorite Quiz Show®. And if you are, there’s an even better chance that your ears also prick up from time to time when one of the clues in some way involves Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, or any other of his books and stories. Although Moby-Dick has been canonized as one of the Great American Novels for a hundred years and needs no advertising, as it were, it’s still exciting that even for a few seconds there are millions of people singularly focused on your obsession, hastily conjuring up all they can recall about that one book about a whale.
But at another level, what’s interesting about Jeopardy is the way that it provides a glimpse into which elements of Melville’s life and work are supposed to have seeped into American culture (by the show’s writers, anyway) such that any halfway decent contestant should have them down pat. Of course, the wide-open secret of Jeopardy is that most of the contestants have not simply gleaned all of the information they recite over the course of their lives. In fact, they strategically cram for months using various methods to predict the probability of certain categories and clues, and even memorize formulas to determine their Daily Double wagers. But in theory anyway, the set of Jeopardy clues and answers are presented as a kind of compendium of the knowledge that smart, well-rounded people should just naturally know.
To that end, after seeing a Melville clue on a recent episode (“Chapter 100 of this novel introduces the one-armed Captain Boomer of the Samuel Enderby”), I decided to collect every clue and answer related to Melville ever presented on the show — a feat made possible only through the extensive cataloging of every episode by the website J! Archive. I was curious to see what aspects of Melville’s life and writing were deemed worthy of asking, how the writers assigned the various questions a level of difficulty, where contestants succeeded or stumbled, and whether there even any errors in the clues.
The following is thus a hodgepodge of results, trends, and mostly useless trivia I discovered after creating a spreadsheet of what I believe to be a complete set of 447 clues and/or answers related to Herman Melville, from the start of the Alex Trebek era in September 1984 through December 31, 2023.
First, a quick note on methodology. To create the spreadsheet, I combed through the J! Archive website for clues related to Melville and any of his books, characters, and adaptations thereof using various search strategies. While J! Archive is a nearly complete database of games, players, categories, clues, and answers since 1984, there are still nearly 300 games from the first 13 seasons that are missing entirely, and many more episodes which are missing certain questions or entire rounds. Thus, think of this as more of a large sample than the entire dataset. The spreadsheet also captures special tournaments (e.g., teens, college students, teachers) which, for the purpose of not overthinking this, I haven’t broken out into separate results for now. Finally, I only collected data in cases where the question or answer were clearly in the context of Melville or his work. That is, a question about the Biblical Ishmael or about sperm whales generally would not be included.
Without further ado, in true Jeopardy form we’ll first look at what frequency various Melville-related terms popped up in the answers.
The Answers
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most common answer in all Melville-related clues was Moby-Dick as the title of the book — representing 89 of the 447 responses, or about 20 percent. An additional 8 responses were Moby Dick as the name of the whale, 3 for white whale and 4 for sperm whale in identifying the kind of whale that attacked the Pequod. Another 3 answers were Moby Dick in reference to the 1956 John Huston/Ray Bradbury film. And in 4 more instances, the title/whale was used in wordplay answers like Moby Dick Van Dyke. (In all, we can call it about 23 percent.)
Roughly equal as an answer was Herman Melville, representing another 20 percent of all answers, or 91 in total. In three more instances his name was used in more wordplay answers like Pee Wee Herman Melville.
Another 41 answers (9%) were Ahab and 20 were Ishmael, plus one more answer which was “Ahab and Ishmael” together — an intriguing comment on the evergreen question of who really is the main character. The Pequod was next at 16, Queequeg at 7, Starbuck at 5, harpoon/harpooner at 5, and Jonah at 2. New Bedford appeared 4 times, compared to Nantucket at 3.
“Call me Ishmael” was the answer just three times, and Nathaniel Hawthorne also received 3 answers, referring to the book’s dedication to him. Other elements of the book which received at least one answer included, presented here in rough order of the plot: November, scrimshaw, cannibal, clam chowder, Quakers, typhoon, “Native American Tribe” (in reference to Tashtego’s background), Gregory Peck, leg, “gold piece,” cetology, Pip, blubber, giant squid, ambergris, and 133 (the chapter in which Moby Dick first appears).
Moby-Dick is far from the only Melville work on which Jeopardy quizzes its contestants, though. Billy Budd was the answer a surprising 39 times, a mix between the character, the novella, and the opera. Captain Vere was the answer once, as was flogging and arms (as in Claggart, the “master-at-arms”).
Bartleby, whether referring to the story or character, has shown up 14 times, plus another 6 times where the answer was “scrivener.” Once each the answer Wall St. (referring to the story’s subtitle) and Bartleby.com, an academic study help website named after the character.
And finally, Typee and Omoo were the answer 5 and 4 times, respectively.
The Clues
The answers on Jeopardy, however, are actually far less interesting than the clues. As we see above, more than half the time the answers are simply the author or the title of one of his most famous books — that is to say, the most obvious or broadly-known piece of the trivia. Clues, on the other hand, have much broader leeway to delve deep into the text of the books or the details of Melville’s biography, using deep cuts to elicit those more accessible answers. So long as contestants can infer from one of the several hints in a clue one of the major “facts” about Melville or Moby-Dick (author, title, major characters), just about anything is fair game, and I was honestly surprised at how much Melville the writers have snuck into its viewers brains.
Here are some of the most interesting findings:
Melville and Moby-Dick have been featured on Jeopardy since the very beginning — and I mean the very beginning. The Final Jeopardy question on one of the two unaired pilot episodes from 1984 was: “Classic American novel which begins ‘Call me Ishmael.’” Just two of the three contestants answered correctly — shame on you, Cynthia Grove, law clerk from Toledo, Ohio, who nevertheless took the runner-up prize of a trip to Hawaii.
Another early question, from the 5th episode aired September 14, 1984, asked for the name of “Melville's white whale tale” for $100.
About 35% of the 447 ‘Melville’ questions appeared in the Jeopardy round, 61% in the Double Jeopardy round, and 4% in the Final Jeopardy round.
Regular viewers can learn quite a broad swath of the significant events of Melville’s life through the clues, contributing to a wider understanding of his biography and perspective as a writer. With up to 9 million viewers each night, Jeopardy arguably contributes to as much cultural osmosis of the facts of his life as any other part of Melville academic scholarship. Here’s a pretty decent start at a Herman Melville Wikipedia page:
March 14, 1989: “His grandfather, Major Thomas Melvill, took part in the Boston Tea Party.”
November 4, 1987: “Melville 1st went to sea after failing to become a surveyor on this N.Y. state transportation project.”
May 17, 1990: “In 1839, at age 19, he joined the crew of the freighter St. Lawrence that ran between NYC & Liverpool.”
June 9, 1995: “This author spent 18 months working on the whaler Acushnet before jumping ship in the Marquesas Islands.”
November 4, 1987: “Between sea voyages, Melville had this job at a Honolulu bowling alley.”
November 18, 1992: “His first novel, ‘Typee’, in 1846, was based on his experiences when he deserted a whaler in the south Pacific.”
February 22, 1999: “Herman bought the farm ‘Arrowhead’ in Pittsfield, in these hills of western Massachusetts.”
February 9, 2004: “Herman Melville's 18-month voyage aboard the whaler Acushnet provided a factual basis for this 1851 novel.”
November 9, 1993: “To support his family in the 1850s, he farmed & wrote magazine stories; his whale tale didn't sell well.”
April 23, 2018: “For years before his death in 1891, this master of the seagoing novel had a customs job on the river in Manhattan.”
December 27, 1990; “When he died in 1891, his obituary in the New York Tribune said his best work was ‘Typee.’”
Viewers can also pick up significant elements of the characters and plot of one of his books, though Moby-Dick, Billy Budd, and Bartleby predominate. Notice though that despite the wide variety of topics in the clues, the desired answers rarely stray from simply “Moby-Dick” or “Ahab.” Here’s the plot of Moby-Dick as told on Jeopardy:
March 16, 2022: “The first line of this novel is the immortal "Call me Ishmael."
April 16, 1997: “2 old Quakers, Captain Peleg & Captain Bildad, are part-owners of the Pequod in this 1851 novel.”
December 22, 2003: “In this novel, Ishmael's roommate aboard the Pequod is a Polynesian prince named Queequeg.”
April 24, 1997: “Harpooneers in this novel include Tashtego, Daggoo & Queequeg, a cannibal.”
October 2, 2009: “This enigmatic & reclusive captain has lost a leg & possibly his mind.”
October 16, 2006: “This Melville character's artificial leg is carved from the jawbone of a sperm whale.”
December 2, 2020: “This character from an 1851 novel ‘was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge.’”
January 17, 2000: “This captain offers gold to whomever "raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow."
May 31, 1996: "Of the 135 chapters in this 1851 novel, 12 are devoted to whales & whaling with no narrative.”
January 16, 1989: “His last words were ‘Thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!’”
September 17, 2012: ”When Moby Dick is harpooned, this man becomes fouled in the line & is taken under the sea to his death.”
Contestants answered 387 of the 447 Melville questions correctly — an impressive 86% correct response rate. (Note: a “correct” answer here indicates that at least one contestant answered it correctly, even if there were other incorrect guesses)
In the easier “Jeopardy” round, contestants answered 131 of the 158 Melville/Moby-Dick questions correctly, and 27 incorrectly. Surprisingly, at 83%, this is actually lower than the overall correct rate response.
During the more difficult “Double Jeopardy,” contestants answered 241 of 274 questions correctly, marking an 88% correct response rate.
Contestants have been asked a Melville question in the “Final Jeopardy” round 17 times. At least one contestant has answered correctly 15 times (88%), and just twice has it stumped all three. The first was during the 1990 College Championship finals: “In 1839, at age 19, he joined the crew of the freighter St. Lawrence that ran between NYC & Liverpool.” The second was a regular season game on December 2, 2020: “This character from an 1851 novel "was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge."
Jeopardy orders questions roughly in increasing order of difficulty and dollar amounts — $200, $400, $600, $800, and $1,000 in the Jeopardy round, and $400, $800, $1,200, $1,600, and $2,000 in the Double Jeopardy round. (Note: the dollar amounts were doubled in 2001, but I’ve adjusted everything in the spreadsheet to current value).
Looking at where, precisely, the questions were placed, an interesting pattern emerges. The Jeopardy round has had 60 Melville questions worth $200; 24 worth $400; 24 worth $600; 20 worth $800; and 28 worth $1,000. In the Double Jeopardy round, 89 have been worth $400; 47 worth $800, 48 worth $1,200; 45 worth $1,600, and 45 worth $2,000. Here’s a table that’s easier to read:
In other words, there seems to be remarkable consistency in both rounds, with Melville questions tending to lead off a category by a wide margin, with roughly equal likelihood after that.
A Melville question has been the subject of a Daily Double question, for which they can wager as much of their earnings as they choose, a total of 31 times. Contestants have correctly answered 55 percent of these slightly trickier questions — far less than the overall ratio of 86%.
Contestants have fared slightly better in Jeopardy round Daily Doubles, answering correctly about 64% of the time compared to 50% of those in Double Jeopardy.
Jeopardy has dedicated an entire category to Melville and his work six times:
November 4, 1987: MELVILLE
September 12, 1995: MOBY DICK
February 22, 1999: THE ROAD TO MELVILLE
September 20, 1999: STARBUCK
April 15, 2015: CHAPTER TITLES IN MOBY-DICK
March 17, 2020: CHARACTERS IN MOBY-DICK
The J! Archive has a complete set of games going back through Season 14, aired from 1997 to 1998. The show produces about 230 games per season, including 80 through the end of 2023. This gives us a total of 6,060 games.
By my count, there have been 311 questions related to Melville since Season 14, meaning that, on average, Jeopardy features a Melville clue once in every 19.5 games, roughly 1 per month for the last 26 years.
Nearly every Melville work has been mentioned in at least one clue, including the relatively obscure. Only a few short stories and some poetry (including his epic poem Clarel) are missing. Here’s a sampling of one question for each work and, again, note that the answer requires knowing little else but that Herman Melville (1) was an author (2) in the 19th century (3) whose stories were often set at sea. (4) whale.
November 25, 2011: “Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas was the setting for the fourth season of "Survivor" & for this author's ‘Typee.’”
April 23, 2013: “His 1847 novel ‘Omoo’ calls Tahiti ‘a fairy world, all fresh and blooming from the hand of the creator.’”
February 23, 2001: “Taji & Jarl are deserters from a whaling ship in his 1849 novel ‘Mardi.’”
May 12, 2011: “A trip to Liverpool as a cabin boy on a merchant ship helped this man pen ‘Redburn’; it wasn't the last novel he set at sea.”
November 4, 1987: “Melville's book ‘White Jacket’ helped abolish this form of corporal punishment on ships.”
June 29, 1994: “After jumping ship in Tahiti in 1842, this ‘Moby Dick’ author worked there as a field laborer.”
September 30, 1994: “In his 1852 novel ‘Pierre, or The Ambiguities’, Pierre Glendinning is a young writer, not a whale.”
June 3, 2019: “Melville's ‘Bartleby the Scrivener’ is subtitled ‘A Story of’ this street of finance.”
October 3, 1995: “‘Benito Cereno’ is one of ‘The Piazza Tales’, an 1856 collection by this "Moby Dick" author.”
March 5, 2019: “In a Melville story a salesman tries to sell a copper type of this title item in the middle of a thunderstorm” (referencing The Lightning-Rod Man)
November 11, 2010: “This American novelist, more associated with whales, visited the Galapagos & mused on the tortoise as a symbol of the two sides of existence, with its dark topside & bright underside.” (referencing The Encantadas)
November 9, 1994: "‘Israel Potter’ is an 1855 novel of the American Revolution by this author of "Moby-Dick."
September 7, 1992: “His novel ‘The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade’ is set on a Mississippi riverboat, not a whaling ship.”
July 6, 1989: “After he wrote ‘Omoo’ & ‘The Whale’, he published a book of Civil War poems called ‘Battle-Pieces.’”
May 11, 1993: “Though found in this man's desk after his death in 1891, ‘Billy Budd’ remained unpublished until 1924.”
Spoiler alert! Jeopardy has given away the ending of Moby-Dick dozens of times, from the cheeky to the blunt. A small sampling:
May 17, 1985: “Captain Ahab died harpooning him”
February 23, 1987: “On ‘10 Classics in 10 Minutes’, a new cassette, this novel is summed up by ‘Everybody dies but fish & Ish’"
November 22, 1993: “At the end of "Moby Dick", this ship sinks & Ishmael is the lone survivor”
May 8, 2023: “He's killed in chapter 135 when Moby Dick drags him into the ocean after he gets caught in the rope of a harpoon.”
The same could be said for Bartleby and Billy Budd:
June 22, 2023: “This title Melville office drudge notices dead brick walls early on, but ends up staring at the high walls of prison.”
March 5, 1996: “This Herman Melville title character, an English sailor, is hanged for killing master-at-arms Claggart.”
Here are some of the more unusual categories in which to find a Melville clue:
ANIMAL ADVERSARIES SPEAK
ARTIFICIAL
BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS
BILLY IDOL
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
CELEB LIT BEFORE & AFTER
CONGRESSIONAL BEFORE & AFTER
DECORATIVE ARTS
DON’T
ELECTRONIC MUSIC
EUROPEAN LITERATURE
EVEN MORE MOOSE POTPOURRI
"HERM"-ETICALLY
LITERARY E-MAIL ADDRESSES
LONDON'S CITY GUILDS
NAME THAT "OON"
QUITE A DICKENS CHARACTER
STARBUCK'S ORDERS
THE LONELY ISLAND
WHAT 2 Q SO LONG?
WHAT THE "MEL"
YOU O ME
After the break: Double Jeopardy
Next week I’ll take another look at the spreadsheet and pull out some of the more surprising Melville deep cuts and unusually difficult clues — and nitpick a few which perhaps needed a fact-check before making it to the Jeopardy board.