Written at a time where American slavery is at its heyday, it should be no surprise that we continue to see themes of race in Chapter 93 of Moby-Dick. In the third paragraph of the chapter, we see Melville compare Pip and Dough-Boy to black and white ponies “of equal developments” respectively, but he continues to extend the metaphor onto Pip but not Dough-Boy. Why is that?

“Pip, though over tender-hearted, was at bottom very bright, with that pleasant, genial, jolly brightness peculiar to his tribe … I write that this little black was brilliant, for even blackness has its brilliancy; behold yon lustrous ebony, panelled in king’s cabinets. But Pip loved life, and all life’s peaceable securities; so that the panic-striking business in which he had somehow unaccountably become entrapped, had most sadly blurred his brightness…” (Melville 450-451)

Melville continues to bring special attention to the Black figure in this passage, speaking of their “brilliancy” and “lustrous ebony” as a reminder that Black people are human beings. They are subject to the hardships of capitalism as white people, but since this is the 1850s, they suffer a disproportionate amount with white people being a contributing factor to their suffering. Not even free Black people were safe, since they were not considered citizens of the United States at the time and therefore were not given constitutional protections or rights, even more so in capitalism.

Melville also highlights the unhappiness of Black workers after they are assimilated into a capitalist society. Pip comes from a tribe whose culture gives him a “pleasant, genial, jolly brightness,” but the “panic-striking business” in which he was “entrapped” had blurred that “brightness.” Melville’s repetition of “brightness” here demonstrates how assimilating into a new culture and letting go of old ways can actually lead to one being worse off. Ironically, despite Pip living a happy life in his tribe, with “finer, freer relish than any other race,” he sought off work in the United States because he thought he would be happier if he had more. In a Fast-Fish/Loose-Fish society, where the only way to be successful is by “having more” of something, does it really make you happy in the end? Or does it snuff out the “brightness” you once had and lead you onto a path of darkness?