Canto V is easily the weakest of the post-release Cantos
>Pallid Whale is just a location
>Weak supporting cast. People only really care about Ishmael, Ricardo and Ahab in Canto V. Everybody else is forgotten. Compared to say, Canto VIII where people like and discuss side character like Xichun, Qiu, Lei Heng, Zilu, etc...
>Poor use of the Pequod. Ishmael spends the first and second part seething and then we have to pretend to care about the Pequod despite one singular mention of Queequeg in part one.