Herman Melville
Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819 in New York City. In 1839 he began to sail as a common sailor on a merchant ship. He traveled to Marquesas island and his first book was a fictionalized account of him living among the natives. He got married and had four children and him and his family moved to a farm near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Moby-Dick was published in 1851 and ended up being a complete failure. While Herman Melville was writing the Romantic period was going on, and his writings are written in the style of dark romanticism. Moby Dick Ishmael, the narrator, wants to board a whaling vessel and go out to the sea. He had been a sailor prior to this point. He travels to Massachusetts and meets a man named Queequeg and they both agree to go whaling together. They meet Peleg and Bildad the owners of a whaling ship. Later they meet Ahab, the ship's captain, and he talks about his obsession of a sperm whale that is named Moby Dick. They eventually go and hunt Moby Dick and that ends up to be the last thing almost all the crew ends up doing. Analysis The book is filled with many symbols, like Moby Dick being a symbol of evil or a symbol of a being that we can never fully understand. Also the symbol of knowledge, which is being shown through Ismael and how he tries to fully understand Moby Dick and his motives. The text has a lot of Dark romantic elements in it and it makes sense that it was written in this style because while he was writing his text the dark romantic movement was going on, Literary Period The time period in which this text was written was the dark romantic period. The text uses many themes from the dark romantic movement. It uses the theme that there is evil in the surrounding or the environment. Moby Dick is the “evil” in the book and Ahab is obsessed by this and tries to rid the world of the evil but ends up getting destroyed by the evil. Study Questions 1. When was Herman Melville born and how did his experiences affect his writing? 2. What type of romanticism is shown in his text? 3. What is Moby Dick a symbol of? 4. Why is Ahab so obsessed with Moby Dick? 5. Who is the main character in Moby Dick? Answers 1. He was born in 1819 and he traveled as a sailor and that inspired him to write Moby Dick and his other books. 2. Dark romanticism 3. He is a symbol of evil that engulfs Ahabs life. 4. He had already had an encounter with Moby Dick that reulted in him losing a leg. So his quest to kill Moby Dick is a quest for revenge. 5. Captain Ahab is the main character even though Ishmael is the one who is narrating. |
Works Cited
Melville, Herman. "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale." Melville. Multiverse, 14 Nov. 1851. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
The Melville Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Useful Links
http://study.com/academy/lesson/captain-ahab-in-moby-dick-character-analysis-quotes-quiz.html
Melville, Herman. "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale." Melville. Multiverse, 14 Nov. 1851. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
The Melville Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Useful Links
http://study.com/academy/lesson/captain-ahab-in-moby-dick-character-analysis-quotes-quiz.html