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Herman Melville
Herman Melville
1819 - 1891
Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
an American novelist, short story
writer, essayist and poet. His
first three books gained much
attention, though they were not
bestsellers by any means, and
his popularity declined
precipitously after only a few
years. By the time of his death
he had been almost completely
forgotten, but his longest novel,
Moby-Dick — largely considered
a failure during his lifetime, and
most responsible for Melville's
fall from favor with the reading
public — was recognized in the
20th century as one of the chief
literary masterpieces of both
American and world literature.
Herman Melville (1819 - 1891)
Life
Works
Evaluation
Moby-Dick
Life
Melville’s childhood was happy to the age of 11, when his
father died in debt.
Melville was born in New York City. Both his parents came
from well-to-do families, but later their family business failed.
He had little education. He had to leave school at the age of 15,
and began to work. He worked as a clerk, a farmer and a
teacher, before becoming a cabin boy on a ship at about
twenty.
There are three things which deserve mention about his life:
going out to sea, his marriage and his friendship with
Hawthorne.
Melville was a whaler, the lowest of sailors. He went to
Liverpool, England and the South Pacific, spending most of his
young manhood undergoing one of the most brutalizing
experiences for a man. His experiences and adventures on the
sea furnished him with abundant material for fiction.
Life
The married life of Melville was more like that of Scott
Fitzgerald than Mark Twains. These men all married above
them. Mark Twains enjoyed the understanding of his wife.
Both Melville and Fitzgerald had to do hackwork for the
money they needed to keep their wives in their extravagant
style. Melville married Elizabeth Shaw, the daughter of a
wealthy judge. To support her and their growing family, he
had to write for money.
During the summer of 185o, Melville and Hawthorne met.
They exchanged visits, meeting at least nine times, and wrote
to one another often.
Melville saw in Hawthorne the one American who was
expressively aware of the evil at the core of American life. He
found Hawthorne’s understanding of evil, that blackness of
vision, unusually fascinating.
Works
Redburn 1849
Typee 1846
Omoo 1874
Moby Dick 1851
Mardi 1849
White Jacket 1850
Pierre 1852
Billy Budd (posthumously)
The Confidence Man
Battle Pieces 1866
Evaluation
Moby Dick is, critics have agreed, one of the world’s
greatest masterpieces. To get to know the 19th
century American mind and America itself, one has
to read this book.
It is an encyclopedia of everything, history,
philosophy, religion, etc. in addition to a detailed
account of the operations of the whaling industry.
“To scale great heights, we must come out of the
lowest depths. The way to heaven is through hell.
We need fiery baptism in the fierce flames of our
bosoms.” 欲攀登高峰,必先脱离深渊;欲登天堂,
必先途经地狱。我们需要经受发生在内心的熊熊烈火
的洗礼。
Moby-Dick
Character List
Plots (p239)
Themes
Symbols
Character List
Ishmael - The narrator, and a junior
member of the crew of the Pequod. Ishmael
doesn't play a major role in the events of the
novel, but much of the narrative is taken up
by his eloquent, verbose, and extravagant
discourse on whales and whaling.
Moby Dick - The great white sperm whale.
Moby Dick, also referred to as the White
Whale, is an infamous and dangerous threat
to seamen, considered by Ahab the
incarnation of evil and a fated nemesis.
Character List
The Pequod
Moby Dick
Queequeg's Coffin
The Pequod