Moby Dick: The Genesis of American Literature

1263 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does american history impact american literature

Author James A. Michener once said, “I have often been mildly amused when I think that the great American novel was not written about New England or Chicago. It was written about a white whale in the South Pacific…” (Michener). American literature started with a single book, titled Moby Dick. This book existentially began the genre of literature that gets labeled “American”. Everything in history has the ability to change with one event taking place, and for American lit’s sake, Moby Dick being created was that event. Ever since “MD” got published, American lit standards have been based off of that book. In Moby Dick, one of the major themes in the book is Honor, a theme of which that is contained in the many dominant themes of American literature. …show more content…

As a country, Freedom exists as a value that represents American literature and the way Americans live. To begin, during the Dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument speech, Daniel Webster proudly exclaims, “And by the blessing of God may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever” (Webster). Webster proclaims about how Americans live in a country that expresses various values along the lines of liberty, freedom, and peace. These values exist as key descriptions of the way Americans live in the culture. Also, Webster does a great job of describing what America does not represent, and what America really stands for. Following the passage in Webster’s address, in Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address, he reminisced about his time at war telling the audience, …show more content…

Three of the strongest themes are freedom, honor, and hard work. In American literature, each of these are some of the strongest and most apparent themes in most pieces of text. At the end of the day, if these values were non-existent in American literature, the literature and the themes of the writing would not be the same. These themes are some of the values that shape not only American literature, but the American lifestyle as

Show More
Related

  • The Book 1776 by David McCullough

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in their head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year of 1776 from the British through a series of difficulties and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. More yet, women of the women’s suffrage defined their freedom as their recognition into society and for their rights to be equal to that of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America tied together to form an American view of freedom. Freedom is something that every American should be willing to do anything in order to maintain. We may have weapons of mass destruction, but when it comes to living in a peaceful, American lifestyle, our freedom is our greatest weapon.

    Read More

  • Moby Dick as a Protest Novel

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Ishmael’s discourse is often calculated to undercut the myth of white supremacy, asserting that society’s survival may ultimately depend on the acceptance of Ishmael’s democratic vision (seeing equality in diversity) and a rejection of Ahab’s tyrannical one (seeing only white).”

    Read More

  • From Rejection to Reverence: The Journey of Moby Dick

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moby Dick is one of the greatest books written in American literature but when it was first made, Herman Melville was shamed for writing it and hated. After a while Moby Dick was noticed from being a book everyone hated to one of the most popular pieces of literature now. The title Moby Dick is known by almost everyone in America. Originally Moby Dick was called The Whale that was originally published in 1851 but was changed to Moby Dick in a later date. The book starts out with a very famous line called “call me ishmael” which was the name of the main character/narrator who goes out to sea as a merchant and wants to go on a whale adventure. Captain Ahab gathers his crew to hunt down Moby Dick even though they were supposed to go to get oil

    Read More

  • Moby Dick

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    house in New York City, Herman determined he needed to go to sea. He spent

    Read More

  • Themes and how their revealed in “Inherit the Wind”

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    These three major themes which were appearance vs reality, the importance of free thought, and man vs. society were revealed throughout the book in many different scenes, and through many different characters. These major themes gave us a better understanding of the book and the characters of the book, and what some of them wanted to achieve.

    Read More

  • The Crucible, The Great Gatsby, And The Things They Carried

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    American literature reflects society by displaying the positive and negative sides to our country’s history. Throughout the year we have been shown all sides of the story, not just one side. We understand the situation more if we take into account the other stories that nobody ever hears about. American Literature deals with the topics of identity/memory, conformity and rebellion, society and struggle, and war. By taking a look at the 9/11 pictures as well as the memorial statue, The Crucible,The Harlem Renaissance, The Great Gatsby, and The Things They Carried, it is easy to see that all aspects of American Literature directly reflect society in many ways.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Moby-Dick

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    The crew grew in eagerness as Ahab reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden doubloon that glistened in the sun. Previously, the crew had no interaction with Ahab; they only knew him by odd sightings and hyperbolic tales. Yet there he stood, with a single doubloon held high into the heavens, as he declared: “Whoever of ye raises me a white-headed whale with a wrinkled brow and a crooked jaw; whosoever of ye raises me that white headed whale with three holes punctured in his starboard fluke – look ye, whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys” (Melville 233). With this golden doubloon, Ahab convinces his crew to hunt for the great ravaging monster known as Moby-Dick. In a story about implications and perspectives, where narratives shift from character to character, what does a doubloon mean to the crew? Melville paints the crew of the Pequod into a microcosm of actual society; every character represents some human facet and the golden coin nailed to the mast peers into the souls of each shipmate. The coin’s imprinted imagery is interpreted differently by each crew member, which leads the reader to ask what this piece of gold means. Why is a crew following a monomaniacal tyrant into the depths of hell? Although the coin shows us that each character has a specific motive for the actions he commits, ultimately the reader realizes that meaning is not integral to any single situation - like the hunt for the whale - every man must hunt for his meaning.

    Read More

  • Octavian Nothing Themes Essay

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    themes of freedom and restraint, of liberty and slavery, science and myth, knowledge and ignorance. Individual choice

    Read More

  • A Whale of a Story: Moby Dick

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    Located in the dark, cold pages of Moby Dick lies evil, an evil by the name of mankind. Mankind snarls its teeth into the face of nature and fellow-man by character development and a thick plot. By diving into the characters and the author, the motives of these individuals is shown clearly through the murky water.

    Read More

  • Metaphysical Ideologies in Moby Dick

    1395 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first glance, Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, appears to be the story of a man, his captain, and the whale that they quest to destroy.  But a closer look reveals the author’s intense look at several metaphysical ideologies.  He explores some of the most ponderous quandaries of his time, among these being the existence of evil, knowledge of the self and the existential, and the possibility of a determined fate.  All of these were questions which philosophers had dealt with and written about, but Melville took it to a new level: not only writing about these things, but also doing so in a lovely poetic language backed by a tale packed with intrigue.  He explores the general existence of evil in his antagonist, the white whale, and through the general malice that nature presents to humans throughout the novel.  The narrator, Ishmael, gains a lot of knowledge about himself through his experiences on the whaling voyage, where he also is able to learn much about the phenomenon of existence itself.  Also, through Captain Ahab, he sees more about the existence of man and the things that exist within man’s heart.  Especially through Ahab and his ongoing quest for the white whale, and also in general conversation amongst the whalers, the issue of fate and whether one’s destiny is predetermined are addressed in great detail, with much thought and insight interpolated from the author’s own viewpoints on the subject.

    Read More

  • Biblical and Mythological Allusions in Moby Dick

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.   Writers often use biblical and mythological allusions to which their readers are familiar.  In Moby Dick, Herman Melville frequently uses biblical and mythological allusions.  With these allusions the reader begins to understand the topic of discussion and is also exposed to the wisdom and knowledge Melville possess.

    Read More

  • Moby Dick

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moby Dick is truly the main character of the book as the title shows. Although he is only in three chapters out of the whole, he takes on a big role to the crewmembers, especially Ahab. Firstly he becomes the focus of the whole whaling trip of the Peaquod. Moby Dick is not an ordinary whale. He has many features that set him apart. With his physical size and stature he towers over the sea, controlling everybody with fear. Other than the obvious physical obscurities, there are many symbols hidden in Melville’s whale. He has religious meaning, along with a national meaning, and an environmental meaning.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Theme Essay

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many

    Read More

  • The Influence of History on American Literature

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A Tale Intended to be After the Fact…” is how Stephan Crane introduced his harrowing story, “The Open Boat,” but this statement also shows that history influences American Literature. Throughout history, there has been a connection among literary works from different periods. The connection is that History, current events, and social events have influenced American Literature. Authors, their literary works, and the specific writing styles; are affected and influenced by the world around them. Authors have long used experiences they have lived through and/or taken out of history to help shape and express in their works. Writing styles are also affected by the current trends and opinions of the period they represent. By reading American Literature, we have seen the inhumane treatment of slaves, we have seen the destruction caused by wars, and we have seen the devastation of eras such as The Great Depression.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Moby-Dick By Herman Melville

    253 Words  | 1 Pages

    Abstract: There are many Analyst who would agree that the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, the whale is just half of what the novel is really talking about. They would also agree that Melville employs some sort of spiritual read by simply by providing scriptures and rephrasing verses from the Bible into the text. But what is it really about? What made Melville come up with this idea style of writing Moby-Dick? Other analyst who also asked themselves this questions, probably looked deeper into the novel doing tons of research figured out a possible solution. The solution that Melville was influenced by Shakespeare novel ‘Hamlet’ this has been established because of the allusions Melville makes to Hamlet are countless. Moby-Dick may be a contemporary version of Hamlet. This paper will illustrate how the characters of Moby-Dick counterparts with the characters in Hamlet, expanding the reason why the character in one works with the other.

    Read More

More about Moby Dick: The Genesis of American Literature

Open Document