Melvilles Moby Dick :: Essays Papers

Melvilles Moby Dick Melville was born in a time of American history where inspiring works of American literature began to emerge. It was also a time when America had not completely separated its literary heritage from Europe, partly because there were successful literary genius’ flourishing there. Melville proved to be a genius of his own, with his many works such as Moby Dick, Billy Bud, and Bartleby. Three distinct themes could be seen throughout most of his literature; whales and the whaling industry, commentary on the universe and human destiny, and ideas about God and nature. Moby Dick is an incredible work by Melville most often referred to as an epic, a tragedy, a novel, an exposition on the whaling, and a spiritual autobiography. It is often overlooked that a deeper, more symbolic, meaning may have been the driving force behind Moby Dick. Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819, to Allan and Maria Melville. He was the third of eight children in the Melville family. He was generally described as silent and slow; his mother thought him to be a very dull child. In 1832 Melville suffered tragedy when his father died. Finishing school when he was fifteen, Melville took service as cabin boy aboard the St. Lawrence. After returning to his home in New York for some time after serving as cabin boy, Melville took berth as an ordinary seaman aboard a whaling ship called the Acushnet. After approximately four and a half years as a seaman on various ships, he set down, again in New York, to write of his experiences. Within six years he had published five books. Shortly thereafter Melville was married and moved his family to a farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It was at this location where Moby Dick was written. Moby Dick was first published in 1851. Melville continued to write, both poetry and stories, until three months before his death in 1891. Melville’s perspective on life was that God created the universe with an infinite number of meanings and man is always trying to determine one specific meaning (Robertson-Lorant 65). It is possible that Melville, through writing, was seeking out some of his many destinies bestowed upon him by God. The basis of the name Moby Dick can be traced back to an article in the New York Knickerbocker Magazine in May of 1839 (Madden).