To my mind, there are only two other works with which it bears comparison: Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” (1818), and Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” (1847). The former, in its own witness to one man’s obsessive interference with nature, was a direct influence on Melville, who acquired a copy on a visit to London in 1849, even as the whalish shades were beginning to swirl about in his imagination.

I want to talk about the section of the article, I talked about this in the last class with my group but this idea of studying nature and going to nature to heal isn’t a new idea, it’s just new to Americans. Melville’s response to the “American Scholar” is so funny to me but this idea of going into nature and finding yourself and going into nature to heal from something is not a new idea, the romantics have been teaching us the ways of going into nature and applying it to your pen.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is my all time favorite book and I honestly a huge inspiration to Moby Dick, a monster in the nature, going to hunt down the monster, and then learning during the journey. The monster will always be a reflection of some sorts. So as we learn about why Moby Dick was written, I have thought this the whole time so far of thinking how similar it was to Frankenstein and the romantic period. reading this, in the article was everything to me and made me feel validated.