Herman Melville instantly responds to Emerson’s call for a great American scholar in the first chapter of Moby Dick as he digs into prominent issues of 1850 America. Page six serves up the word slave on a silver platter. The most controversial issue in American history. An issue that caused more strife than we face today (so far). This is not a novel to escape the world. This is the world. And Melville forces the reader to face it as he says: “Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who aint a slave? Tell me that.” (6) One can only imagine the pause this would warrant on an 1850s audience. Hmm that’s right who aint a slave… maybe there is a place for compromise on this ripe issue of slavery, they might think to themselves. But Melville hastily shuts any of these thoughts down with his fervent talk of money. He goes on: “But being paid, – what compares with it? The urbane activity with which man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! How cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!” (6-7) One may feel like a slave at work but must remember the pay day. And why does getting paid feel so marvelous? Because money creates autonomy. Autonomy is humanity. What is so interesting about Melville’s analysis is his conclusion that a monied man cannot enter heaven. Slaves, whose justification for being enslaved is being seen as less than human, cannot enter heaven, monied men cannot enter heaven. So, who is it that is going to heaven? Furthermore, Melville centralizes American issues in the bill of fate that Ishmael draws up:
“Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States.
“WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL.
“BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN.” (7)
“Grand contested election for presidency” What a statement. A familiar one. The president in power during the writing and publication of this book was one Millard Fillmore. A vice president who was inaugurated after the death of president Zachary Taylor. Fillmore undermined Taylor when he signed into law the Fugitive Slave Act. An act that forced northerners to return slaves to the south, inciting the use of military force if necessary. Fillmore postponed the Civil War by ten years. But greatly increased tensions between the North and the South as well as his unpopularity. In the very first chapter of this 800-page, 135-chapter book, Melville confronts a nation. This is a beginning for America’s greatest novel.
Great blog post. You note HOW Melville presents his political novel, reminding us, “In the very first chapter of this 800-page, 135-chapter book, Melville confronts a nation. This is a beginning for America’s greatest novel.” Great point here: ‘Herman Melville instantly responds to Emerson’s call for a great American scholar in the first chapter of Moby Dick as he digs into prominent issues of 1850 America. Page six serves up the word slave on a silver platter. The most controversial issue in American history. An issue that caused more strife than we face today (so far). This is not a novel to escape the world. This is the world”
I like this focus on Melville’s way of confronting the nation with these issues by highlighting it in the first chapter. He gets readers to think about this topic by involving everyone when he asks “who ain’t a slave?” Obviously we can’t compare to the experiences of those that lived in slavery at the time he was writing this, but it’s just a simple quick question that puts you in that position, perhaps relating the feeling of being enslaved by work, and more broadly, the dollar and the monetary system our country is run by.
Another possible way of looking at “who ain’t a slave?” could be how our lives are generally dictated by the systems and/or institutions we are born into or choose to live by. Right after this quote, Ishmael goes on about how he is fine with being ordered about by whichever sea captain, as “everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way” (6). While it may be too far to say we are enslaved by societal expectations and the law, these rules, both written and unwritten, shape our behaviors and actions. The topic of money you mention can be a more specific example of this, Melville points out that despite many people citing it as the root of all earthly ills, we are ever so cheerful for perdition (eternal damnation/suffering).