阅读赫尔曼·麦尔维尔 Herman Melvill在小说之家的作品!!! | |||
麦尔维尔(1819～1891)Melville.Herman，美国作家。1819年8月19日生于纽约的一个商人家庭，1891年9月28日卒于同地。麦尔维尔的祖先是苏格兰的一个名门望族，早在麦尔维尔祖父那一辈，就已经来了美国，并且参加了独立战争，在社会上有一定的影响。在他少年时代，父亲破产，家庭一下子从富裕堕入潦倒之中。尔维尔１２岁时不幸丧父，１５岁时就结束了仅仅四年的学校生活。因家境恶化，使他不得不走向社会独自谋生。他先后做过银行职员、农场工人、乡村教师，备尝了人世间的冷暖。因父亲破产，未成年便离开学校，自立谋生。此后不久，他不得不从银行职员做起，先后做过店员、农场工人和小学教师，尝尽了生活的酸甜苦辣。
麦尔维尔作品
1837年，18岁的麦尔维尔怀着满腔的忿懑和对社会的抵触，逃上了一艘帆船，开始了他的航海生涯。第一次的航海只是激起了他更强烈的愿望，1839年，到一艘往返于美国纽约和英国利物浦之间的轮船上当服务员，开始了5年海上生活。其间曾在几艘捕鲸船和邮轮上当过渔叉手和普通水手，足迹踏遍四大洋，还曾流落到塔希提岛和马克萨斯岛上，在有食人风气的土著部落中生活过一个时期，并作为水兵在美国号战舰上服过役。从1841年起，他开始登上捕鲸船做水手了。在随后的3年间，麦尔维尔随着捕鲸船到了世界上的很多地方，大大开阔了眼界。不仅如此，他还和捕鲸船上的其他伙伴一起，同捕鲸船上的专制行为做了一定的斗争，并且还曾因暴动等原因被监禁。后来，麦尔维尔加入了美国军舰“美国号”，在舰上服役，直到1844年他在波士顿上岸，结束自己的航海生涯。这些经历为日后他的创作提供了丰富的素材。
1841年到1844年的航海生涯对麦尔维尔的一生影响很大，而这其中，相当的时间是在捕鲸船上，这样，麦尔维尔的思想基本上被奠定了。坎坷的经历、丰富的生活和强烈的思想构成了以后麦尔维尔写作生涯的基础。他的作品是他生活的写照，也是他思想的写照。
1844年，麦尔维尔退伍回到纽约，开始创作生活。最初的长篇小说《泰比》、《奥穆》、 《马尔迪》都是以他在南太平洋的生活为依据写成。其中《泰比》描写了他在马克萨斯岛上的食人部落泰比人中的惊险经历，揭示了资本主义文明给当地土著人的淳朴生活带来的破坏，因此受到教会的谴责。另外两部长篇小说《雷德本》和《白外套》也是描写海洋生活的。这些作品给美国文学带来了崭新的领域和内容，在美国读者中广受欢迎，作者因此赢得了海洋文学家的称誉。
围绕着麦尔维尔，一切都是悲剧。创作悲剧作品本身并不是悲剧，只有创作悲剧作品的人成了现实悲剧中的主人公时，真正的悲剧才产生了。梅尔维尔最初的两本书《泰皮》(1846)和《欧穆》 (1847)，是根据他在泰皮和塔希提的见闻经过艺术加工而写成的游记。1847年梅尔维尔开始创作《玛地》，并同纽约文艺界接触，经常为文艺刊物写稿。1849年梅尔维尔出版《雷得本》，1850年出版《白外衣》，都写航海生活，也都获得好评。这年夏天他与霍桑相识，两人成为邻居和朋友。1866至1885年他在纽约任海关检查员。1866年他自费印行第1部诗集《战事集》。1876年又自费出版以宗教为题材的18000行长诗《克拉瑞尔》，1888年和1891年自费出版诗集《约韩·玛尔和其他水手》和诗集《梯摩里昂》，各印25册。
梅尔维尔于1891年9月28日去世。一生潦倒不得意，他的作品在当时大多也不受欢迎，1851年，他发表了自己的代表作《白鲸》（又名《莫比•迪克》），但没有引起读者和评论界的重视，这使他十分失望。《白鲸》之后，麦尔维尔后期作品中比较重要的有小说《彼埃尔》（1852年）、《伊萨雷尔•波特》（1855年）、《骗子》（1857年）、长篇小说《比利•巴德》（死后于1924年被整理发表）和短篇故事集《广场故事》（1856年）。但是以上这些作品在当时都受到读者的冷遇，麦尔维尔本人也几乎被人遗忘。1891年，麦尔维尔在世人的漠不关心中逝世于纽约———他的出生地。死后3天，《纽约时报》才在一个不起眼的位置刊登了这个不幸的消息。这些作品长期没有得到重视。直到20世纪20年代，麦尔维尔的价值才被美国文学界“重新发现”，确立了他在美国文学史上应有的地位。西方评论家才对麦尔维尔的后期作品，尤其是《白鲸》非常感兴趣，赞誉它为一部美国文学经典著作。1956年06月27日，由导演约翰·休斯顿JohnHuston根据小说改编的电影《白鲸记》（又名MobyDick）在美国上映。
赫尔曼·麦尔维尔-主要著作
1851年梅尔维尔出版他最重要的作品《白鲸》，这部小说以充实的思想内容、史诗般的规模和沉郁瑰奇的文笔，成为杰出的作品，但在当时却没有得到重视。梅尔维尔的小说作品还有《皮埃尔》 (1852)和《伊斯雷尔·波特》 (1855)。他的短篇小说和散文有《代笔者巴特贝》 (1853)、《迷惘的岛屿》(1854)、《班尼托·西兰诺》 (1855)等，后来集成《广场故事》于1856年出版。1857年出版的长篇小说《骗子的化装表演》 。他去世前所写的一部长篇小说是《毕利·伯德》 (1924)，在他死后30多年才出版。梅尔维尔晚年转而写诗。1866年他自费印行第1部诗集《战事集》 。1876年又自费出版以宗教为题材的18000行长诗《克拉瑞尔》 ，1888年和1891年自费出版诗集《约韩·玛尔和其他水手》和诗集《梯摩里昂》 ，各印25册。
赫尔曼·麦尔维尔-时代背景
1851年，美国作家麦尔维尔完成了他的长篇小说《白鲸》。《白鲸》出版后，麦尔维尔曾给霍桑写过一封信。他在信中称：“我刚刚写了一本坏书，现在我感到自己像羔羊一样纯洁。”
麦尔维尔作品
自称写了一本“坏书”，却“感到自己像羔羊一样纯洁”，这话听起来有些玄妙，无论过去还是现在，这样的自白都不能不给读者带来几分迷惑。究竟是麦尔维尔本人对如何评价自己的作品缺乏洞见，还是有意以谦卑的姿态，取悦他所崇敬的作家？从麦尔维尔与霍桑的个人友情看，似乎两者兼而有之。不过，更有趣也更重要的，是作家无意中在这一段话里显露出的某种微妙的心理状态：对写出这部大有别于普通读者口味的《白鲸》，带有几分自嘲，怀着某种歉意，同时又流露出作品脱手后难以抑制的喜悦。在歉意与喜悦交错相融的情绪之间，这明显地暗示着什么，似乎作家意识到自己接近了一个宏大的目标，且有充分的把握贴近和捕捉它；并且，在追寻和捕捉这宏大目标的过程中，他的心灵得到了升华，有一种洁白如雪的愉悦感。那么，麦尔维尔欲言又止，隐而不谈的到底是什么？
深究这个问题，1851年这个年头决不能忽视，它是一把必不可少的入门的钥匙。因为今天重新解读《白鲸》，我们不能只关心文本，不能把阅读死死地框在文本的小牢笼里，相反，恰恰应该在一定程度上有意识地放弃在文本的曲折小径里流连徘徊的“细读”方法，让历史回到阅读和批评中来，以从整体上理解麦尔维尔的写作以及作家所处的时代。
一旦让历史之门敞开，我们就不能不看到《白黥》绝不是某种象牙塔中的写作，不能不看到这部作品与历史之间那种曲折隐蔽的关系，并将其视为庞杂历史系统的一部分。这段历史就是1848～1875年前后资本主义对全球的扩张和征服。对新兴的资本主义而言，这一时段极为显赫，借用霍布斯鲍姆的话说：“资本主义在1848年前的60年里已经获得历史性的突破，在经济阵线、政治—意识形态阵线上皆取得胜利。”在其《资本的年代》一书中，霍布斯鲍姆不仅概述了资本主义工业化初期的重要事件，分析了一些事件的正负面影响，还特别强调了这一时期经济和技术方面的成就：“全世界浇铸了几百万吨的铁，穿越各大洲的绵延铁路，横跨大西洋的海底电缆，苏伊士运河的开凿，芝加哥等美国中西部处女地上拔地而起的大城市……”等等。历史学家认为“这是一出欧洲和北美强权主演的戏剧，世界被踩在它们足下。”
霍布斯鲍姆还将1851年前后的移民活动，称为“历史上最伟大的一次移民浪潮”，他注意到1846～1875年之间，约有900多万人离开欧洲，其中大部分到了美国。克罗斯比在《生态扩张主义》一书中，分析大约整个欧洲人口的1/5移居美洲的推动力时，认为主因是“人口爆炸及由此导致的耕地短缺，民族间的争斗，对少数民族的迫害。”
对比之下，霍布斯鲍姆的观点比较温和，他认为造成移民大潮的直接原因，涉及到当时欧洲都市化浪潮和乡村普遍的贫困化，还因为“有几批移民是从较糟糕的农业环境离开，迁移到较好的农业环境定居。”在这里，霍布斯鲍姆的笔触已经点到了生态环境，但并未把它当成大问题认真探究。不过，这位历史学家指出，大批欧洲移民移居美国的后果，在1867～1883年短短的十几年间显现出来，这就是大约1300万印第安人惨遭屠杀（包括欧洲人带入的天花、霍乱等疾病给原住民造成的生态灾难），甚至连印第安人赖以生存的几百万野牛也在新移民的枪口下灭绝。值得注意的是，虽然指出资本主义在全球的扩张及其探险活动，已经将“世界地图上的空白逐渐填满”，但霍布斯鲍姆还是疏漏了一个广阔的领域:海洋。
麦尔维尔作品
另一位历史学家沃勒斯坦在对资本主义体系进行历史性动态分析时，注意到早在17世纪初，或更早一些时间，荷兰在世界经济体系中取得了霸权地位之后，不仅垄断了北海的鲱鱼捕捞业，还垄断了冰岛以及斯匹兹卑尔根的鲸鱼捕捞业，甚至统治了世界海运贸易。当时的荷兰的造船业已经十分发达，在阿姆斯特丹“有一系列相互连贯的工业部门:缆绳工厂、面包房、供应船用杂货，以及制造航海仪器和绘制海图的部门。”
布罗代尔则在他著名的历史著作《15至18世纪的物质文明、经济和资本主义》中提供了另一幅图景：“……阿姆斯特丹总是船满为患，一名旅行者于1738年说：‘我从未见过如此惊人的奇景。如果没有亲眼目睹，不能想象有2000条船在同一港内的绝妙场面。’1701年的一本旅行指南谈到，港内的8000条船，‘樯桅林立，遮天蔽日’。船只数目到底是2000或8000,我们不必深究。可以肯定的是，从丹姆广场放眼望去，只见到处都是船旗。……真是让人不能相信，更远处是专门从事捕鲸的大船。”这是多么庞大的船队。据推测，当时造一艘大船需要2000棵树龄达100年的橡树，而生长2000棵橡树那时需要500英亩的土地。沃勒斯坦认定，早在16世纪，由于造船等其它经济因素“致使西欧、意大利、西班牙和地中海诸岛的森林面积缓慢而稳步地减少。”
其实，征服海洋的行动早已开始，作家法利·莫厄特在《屠海》中对此作了详细描述，从他掌握的资料看，1851年前后，整个资本主义世界对海洋的征服，对海洋生物的围剿与同一时期惨杀美洲印第安人的行动相比，同等的血腥、同等的疯狂。按照莫厄特的考证，捕鲸人在外海捕杀抹香鲸后，新英格兰人变成真正的捕鲸者。到1765年，有120多条新英格兰的捕鲸船在外海捕鲸。他们捕杀抹香鲸、座头鲸、还有黑色露脊鲸，捕杀量惊人。新英格兰捕鲸船队组建后，环绕了整个地球，他们在南大西洋、南北太平洋和印度洋巡猎。在1804至1807年间，共捕杀了20多万头鲸。黑色露脊鲸成为被猎杀的目标后，仅50多年时间里几乎在世界范围灭绝。按照莫厄特的分析，欧洲人首次到达北美大陆时，仅北大西洋中有15万头格陵兰鲸。莫厄特认为，巴斯克人、英国人、苏格兰人、荷兰人、德国人以及美国人，在百余年内将格陵兰鲸灭绝。1847年前后，美国人成了捕鲸业后来居上的霸主，它拥有3倍于欧洲的捕鲸船，数量达700艘，从事捕鲸的人过两万。美国的捕鲸船队仅用50年时间，完全灭绝了太平洋中的弓头鲸。可以想像，当非洲的黑人被作为奴隶贩卖，海洋中鲸鱼的脑、须、齿被视为昂贵的商品，还有什么东西不可以成为资本和利润所追逐的目标。新兴的资本主义已如同一头无比贪婪的大怪兽，其无休止的吞噬行径，其盲目、疯狂的掠攫活动，不仅到处制造灾难，而且在它所征服的一切领域留下了抹不掉的血腥印迹。正是依靠这样一系列残酷的对世界的发现和开发，从16世纪至18世纪的200多年间，资本主义成功地将自己的势力扩展到地球的各个角落。1848年，马克思和恩格斯对此有过深刻的概括：“它按照自己的面貌为自己创造出一个世界”。
这就是麦尔维尔所生活的时代，这就是1851年前后处处弥漫着征服和占有气息的社会氛围。麦尔维尔这位富有航海经历的作家，虽然不能说正处于新兴资本主义的中心，但他却置身于这一历史发展最敏感的地带，应该感受到那个时代的气息，把握到其脉搏。在当时，资本主义虽然已经在欧洲、在北美，在东西南北不同的地理区域，“按照自己的面貌为自己创造出一个世界”，但它在如何彻底地控制大自然，如何完整地占有大自然这一事关资本主义未来的重大问题上，还没有为自己的行动找到合情合理的解释，并没有为自己的杀戮和贪欲找到可供减缓心理压力及可滋效仿的偶像。或许，麦尔维尔并未真正意识到这是新兴资产阶级的急迫需要，它与资本主义体系的历史命运相联结，是与这一体系共存亡的大主题。但他适时地行动了，并在文学写作中最大限度地发挥了个人想象¾¾这些想象明显植根于阅读前人作品（培根、莎士比亚、埃斯库罗斯、卡莱尔、《圣经》 ）获得的灵感，植根于那一时代的整体氛围、诸多刺激性因素和普遍性情绪之中。麦尔维尔的写作不可能超越时代。
赫尔曼·麦尔维尔-麦尔维尔与《白鲸》简介
《白鲸》
1851年完成的长篇小说《白鲸》(即《莫比·迪克》 )是麦尔维尔的代表作。这是一部寓意丰富、深刻、笔触雄浑的长篇小说。它记述在19世纪上半叶美国捕鲸业蓬勃发展的年代，从事捕鲸业40年的裴圭特号捕鲸船船长亚哈在同一条巨大凶猛的白鲸莫比·迪克搏斗中船破身亡的经历，反映出作者对当时资本主义巨大发展的疑虑和惶恐心情。
书中描写了海上航行和纷繁的捕鲸生活，被誉为"捕鲸业的百科全书"。整部作品，寓意深刻、语言流畅、感情凝重、切合主题，并用象征性手法，揭示了资本主义的罪恶，人物刻画栩栩如生，内心描写委婉生动。
但是，这绝不是一部单纯地叙述发生在海洋上的一个人与黥生死相博的传奇故事;麦尔维尔对海洋和海洋生物的严酷态度比故事本身更让人精心动魄。在他讲述的可怕而残忍的故事里，作家绝无一丝爱怜海洋生物之意，他是为那些来不及洗濯双手的海洋征服者擂响战鼓，为那些以血腥方式征服大自然斗士们的疯狂行动，尽最大可能进行合理性辩解。幸运的麦尔维尔成功了：追杀白鲸的血腥故事获得了一圈彩虹的光环，成为一部不朽的著作，成为西方文学中的经典，迷倒了一代又一代读者。《白鲸》一书是美国文学史上公认的经典文学著作，是史诗般的小说。它气势磅礴，场景宏大。不仅反映了美国水手向大自然进军的艰辛历程，而且也表达了人类不断进取的坚强信心。
《白鲸》的作者麦尔维尔麦尔维尔１２岁时不幸丧父，１５岁时就结束了仅仅四年的学校生活。因家境恶化，使他不得不走向社会独自谋生。他先后做过银行职员、农场工人、乡村教师，备尝了人世间的冷暖。１８３７年，他踏上一条美国商船当服务员，开始接触海洋生活。１８４１年又转移到捕鲸船上当水手。
《白鲸》就取材于这一时期的海上生活。海上４年是他一生中最重要的经历，他戏称自己是在受"哈佛大学和耶鲁大学"的教育。这段生活对他的创作起到了关键作用。随后，麦尔维尔随捕鲸船漫游了世界许多地方，开阔了眼界，同时也为创作小说积累了丰富的素材。１８４２年曾被南太平洋马克萨恩群岛上泰皮尔族俘后逃脱，辗转到一条澳大利亚商船上当水手，又因违反纪律被囚在塔命提群岛。越狱后，他又重新回到捕鲸船上当投叉手，１８４３年正式投入美国军舰"美国"号上服役，至１８４４年退役后，才结束了自己的海上生涯。此间，对麦尔维尔的思想产生了极大的影响，坎坷的经历、丰富的生活、强烈的愿望，奠定了麦尔维尔写作的丰厚基础。
《白鲸》也可以说是麦尔维尔的生活写照。小说的创作始于１８５０年２月，脱稿于１８５１年，并于同年出版。那年麦尔维尔才３２岁。麦尔维尔晚年潜心诗歌创作，自费出版三部诗集。１８６６年～１８８６年，他在纽约海关当检查员，但也没有改变他的厄运，他终于在穷困潦倒中默默无闻地死去，直到２０世纪中期，他的创作天才终于被人们发现，并被人们公认为世界级作家，其作品也随之奉为经典文学著作。
写作思想
跳开1851年，站在21世纪的视点重新审读《白鲸》，细心的读者将会发现，《白鲸》从始到终贯穿一条主线：人一旦置身于大自然中，惟一的选择只有充当征服者，他与被征服对象的关系必然是对立的，两者是彼此仇视的、互不相容的。麦尔维尔对亚哈船长的塑造尤其突出了这一点，使其成为《白鲸》这部书的灵魂。在麦尔维尔笔下，虚拟的大海与真实的大海相去甚远，麦尔维尔的大海永远是变幻莫测、充满险恶的，它是“冷酷恶毒的”，它有“幽灵似的白浪滔滔的洋面”，即使晴朗的天气，“在它那一派蔚蓝的、柔和的底里，隐藏有一种邪恶的魔力。”这就是“大寿衣似的海洋”，一切邪恶皆来自它的最深处，它孕育了凶残无比的大白鲸，还有嗜人血的抹香鲸，而大白鲸在大海中横行无忌，简直就像个“蠕动的海魔王”。
总之，在作者的描述和勾勒下，翻动着白色浪花的大海与幽灵般的白鲸，两者在阴险、邪恶的轨道上融为一体。为使阅读者真切地感受大海的险恶，作者从《白鲸》最初的章节起始，竭力渲染紧张、恐惧的气氛，他引领读者走进与棺材谐音的“彼得·科芬”大鲸客店，那装饰古怪的居所处处闪露着凶兆，使人联想到无处不在的死神。连人们寻求心灵庇护的教堂，也无法使你摆脱对死亡的恐惧，面对一座座葬身于大海的海员墓碑，读者直接感受那索取人性命的元凶迫近的气息。神父的布道更是异乎寻常，他“曳长而庄严的声调，有如一只陷在迷雾的海上的船只那种不断敲击的钟声”，他的吟诵将人们的恐惧拖至深渊：“大鲸的恐怖和肋骨/困我在阴森可怕中/神光普照的浪涛滚滚而过/把我高高举起/重重抛进毁灭之都……”似乎这还远远不够，神父反复宣讲《圣经》中“耶和华安排一条大鱼吞了约拿”的那一段落，将大海，及大海中的生物同基督教历史神话连接起来，将人的恐惧、人的死亡归罪于大海，将人与大海、与大海中那“一条大鱼”的对立与冲突视为历史的必然。甚至那艘以灭亡的印第安部落名称命名的“裴廓德”号捕鲸船，也是隐喻“死亡与决斗”。这艘“用它猎逐到的敌人的骸骨来打扮自己的船只”，竟是用花白的鲸骨打造的。
麦尔维尔作品
这些描写和叙述不仅将大自然恶魔化，而且不可缓解的仇恨压倒了一切。仇恨的对象具体而明确，就是那头出没于大海中邪恶无比的白鲸，人与大海、与海中巨兽的对立和复仇情绪，已是箭在弦上不能不发。在此，人们不能不提出疑问，在真实的人类狩猎历史活动中，某一种狩猎活动，在它的准备状态，在其行动的前期阶段，果真要在猎手的心灵中灌输和强化对所猎取对象的恐惧情绪，直至把这种情绪引向仇恨吗？这是容易被阅读者忽略的常识性问题。答案当然是否定的。作家在这里明显进行了有意的歪曲和改写，其中隐含了作家写作的深层动机和目的。阅读和了解人类学家所记载的狩猎部族习俗，我们将会发现，无论在印第安部落、还是在爱斯基摩人中，无论在非洲和亚洲曾以狩猎为生的原住民中间，他们与猎取对象的接触或遭遇，更多的是欣喜，同时伴随着久远的敬畏（类似的场景，还能从美国电影《与狼共舞》所复原的印第安部落习俗中看到片段）。假如某个猎手对某种猎物有了怨恨，不管他是部族头人还是首领，都不会把个人的怨恨提升为整个部族的仇恨，那将引发疯狂的滥杀，或退而避之，全部族选择迁徙之路。但这势必危及群体的生存，甚至毁掉整个部族的生计。为此，我们不能不追问，麦尔维尔是否犯了常识性错误，将他所描述的猎手对猎物的仇恨当成人类固有的、原发的、普遍化的共通现象？这里更可能的是，作家并不只是简单地犯下常识错误。探究其源由，根本原因恐怕还在于麦尔维尔所处社会环境的变化，这变化是前所未有的、来势汹汹的、难以抵挡的。1851年前后的那一时段，一只看不见的大手将历史折为两截：被翻过的那一页，无论其多么漫长（包括所谓封建社会），从总体上说人类对大自然取一种敬畏的态度，在经济生产和社会生活中都是维持低限度生存水准，以同大自然保持相对协调；翻过的这一页，是以“资本和利润”为推动力的历史新开端，征服和占有大自然成为它的题中应有之意。美国心理学家弗罗姆在他《占有还是生存》（1976年出版）一书中对此有过深刻的论述，他认定“十八世纪的资本主义逐步地发生了一种深刻的变化，经济行为与伦理学和人的价值观念分离开来。”他认为资本主义已是“一个有着自己的动力和规律的运动着的系统”。他分析了重占有和重生存这两种不同的生存方式，追溯其历史渊源，从中得出的结论是：“这两种生存方式的区分以及爱活物和爱死物这两种不同形式的爱，是人类生存的至为关键的问题。”毫无疑问，麦尔维尔全身心地沉浸在类似于“爱死物”的那样一种冲动中，他竭力渲染人与大自然的对立情绪，将这一情绪引向仇恨。这种仇恨一旦合法化，就能为那些追逐利润的人们，为贪婪得发疯的资产阶级，为整个资本主义体系随之而来的在更大的海域、在更广阔的大自然中，进行更疯狂的屠杀，无休止的占有，找到了无所顾忌的行动口实，清除了征服者的心理障碍。
“征服和占有”确实是1851前后那个时代的大主题，麦尔维尔紧紧地抓住了它，又在《白黥》写作中占有了它。
《白鲸》为读者提供了这样一段有趣的场景：亚哈船长一只手抓着护桅索，一只手高举着一枚西班牙金币，口中高喊着：“你们随便哪一个给我发现这条白鲸，就可以拿到这枚金币，朋友们！”在大海中，在航船上，以西班牙金币悬赏第一个在桅杆上发现猎物的人，这样的情景令人眼熟，肯定在哪里发生过。它与某一段历史，某位声名显赫的征服者有关。查一查， 《哥伦布航海日志》中就有类似的记述，那应该是1492年10月至12月的某一天，哥伦布乘“平塔”号探险船航行在大西洋上，他就是以同样的姿态，同样的口气，以西班牙国王的名义宣布：第一个在桅杆上发现陆地的人将得到赏金。这是历史的照搬和刻意复制吗？究竟是麦尔维尔无意中设置了这一情节，还是因为大海和航船等相似的场景，使他下意识地套用了当年殖民扩张时哥伦布的焦虑？这一时难以认定。但有一点可以肯定，两个发生于不同时代的故事，既然使用了相同的情节，必然在某些方面有内在的联系：主人公（或当事人）意识到征服和占有是他此行的惟一目的，意识到金钱所具有的无法抗拒的魔力。从这富有象征和隐喻色彩的情节中，读者或许应该不难找到这样一种联系：在麦尔维尔的潜意识中，哥伦布，或这一类人是值得效仿的楷模：他要做一桩大事情，他要完成有一个大发现，他要征服一个大目标。这征服欲，也就是弗罗姆所说的“爱死物”的欲望。这一欲望通过爱尔维尔所虚构的人物和故事一点一滴地表露出来。
这里要特别指出，在《白鲸》的整体结构中，麦尔维尔还为表述这一欲望（也是为了迎合某种社会欲望）专门设置了足够的叙述空间。这表现于：在故事的叙述过程中，作家再三再四地中断叙述，造成叙述的间隔，在这些间隔中插入大量的非叙述性文字。而这一堆堆插入的文字如赘生物，明显地使这部作品显得臃肿而庞杂。有意思的是，《白鲸》结构上这种臃肿和杂乱，反被一些评论家认为具有知识的含量、历史的厚度，称其为捕鲸方面的百科全书。然而，这样的评价忽略了这些插入的非叙述性文字其实另具功能，另有意义。在麦尔维尔的心目中，它们与小说中的叙述性文字具有同等重要的作用，这也是显而易见的。
麦尔维尔在“鲸类学”章节中，有意展示了他所掌握的有关鲸类的丰富知识，不仅将不同的鲸进行分类描述，还在描述其形态和习性的过程中，指出哪一种鲸的“商业价值又是最高的；因为它是人们能够从它身上获得贵重的东西，即鲸脑的惟一动物”；从哪一种鲸的“嘴巴里所提炼出来的芬香可口的油是极其名贵的，是珠宝商和钟表匠所竭力搜求的东西。”他出示收集到的资料，还谈到独角鲸的角，声称在古代它是被“当做抗毒的灵剂的，因此，它的制剂售价很高。”但有关这种独角鲸的信息少之又少，只有在1576年的文献中有段记载，那是英国的马丁·弗罗比歇爵士探险归来，将一只独角鲸的角献给了伊丽莎白女王。至于鲸类的食用价值，细心的作家并没有忽略，他在“做菜的鲸”一章中津津有味地谈到，300年前，法国就把“露脊鲸的舌头当做一种珍肴美味，而且价格卖得非常高。”说到小抹香鲸，“把它的脑髓当成一样上等菜。用一把斧头，将这种精巧的脑壳敲开后，肥肥白白的两大爿就折裂开，然后把它们和着面粉，煮成一种最惹人喜欢的食品，味道之芬芳，有点像小牛脑……”
很明显，作家在这里是向一大批为数众多的隐形读者诉说。这批读者对猎取和屠杀没有兴趣，他们不愿自己的双手染上血迹，但他们却有很高的消费趣味，有很强的好奇心，他们的关注点集中在珍希物品上。为了满足这些隐形读者的特殊口味，麦尔维尔被“资本和利润”浸透过的商品意识已溢于言表。从这一角度阅读“割油”、“绒毯”、“海德堡大桶”、“龙涎香”、“手的揉捏”、“炼油间”等章节，从那大段大段工厂化操作的描述中，被牵着鼻子绕来绕去的读者终会发现，原来这里谈及的，才是远洋捕鲸的真实目的，它与金钱和利润直接挂钩，它是捕鲸、猎鲸、屠鲸的原初动机，与所谓的“复仇”和“仇恨”根本就没有什么瓜葛。在这条轨道上还谈什么正义与邪恶！捅破这一层窗户纸，读者或许有上当受骗之感。特别是在“抹香鲸头——对比图”和“露脊鲸——对比图”这两个章节，麦尔维尔引领读者以占有者的姿态把玩手中的猎物，他触摸鲸的唇、舌、须，把玩鲸的头颅，将鲸的“整个头当成一只大提琴，而那些个喷孔，就是大提琴的声板上的壁孔。”他细细地观赏鲸“头顶上的奇特、隆起、鸡冠形的覆盖物——这种碧绿而缠来缠去的东西……”他翻看鲸的牙齿和嘴巴，“这只嘴巴真是多么漂亮雅致呀！从地板到天花板都有镶里，或者不如说是用一层白色薄膜裱褙的，光辉闪烁，宛如新娘穿的缎子。”这情景恰如一只老猫把玩爪下的小老鼠。够了，这到底表现了一种什么心理？与捕鲸手的心态（无论怎么说《白鲸》还是以捕鲸为主线）是否相符？我们不能不有所质疑。从人类学家泰勒、弗雷泽的专著中不难发现，狩猎部族猎获之后通常是以敬畏的心情抚慰自己的猎物，安慰它，讨好它，并以多种方式为自己的行为开脱、谢罪，这不只是部族成员自觉履行的习俗，而是他们自然信仰的一部分，同他们的生存方式合为一体。这样的习俗在亚洲、在中国的北方，在西伯利亚的密林中，一直延续到20世纪60年代。如今，在世界某些边远地区的部族文化中仍然存留着。美国作家海明威在他的《老人与海》 （出版于1952年）中，就以令人信服的细节描述了老渔民与一条大鱼搏斗的经过，其虔诚、敬畏的心境和猎取大鱼后的失落感，给人以刻骨铭心的记忆。显然，麦尔维尔清楚地意识到他面对（或者说他感兴趣的）的是什么样的读者：这是一个新兴的强力集团，是特殊群体，这一群体的行为心理特征早与传统相悖，特别在对待大自然、对待自己占有物的态度上，同古老的传统有了本质别。
麦尔维尔作品
现在还是让我们回到1851年，回到麦尔维尔和他的《白鲸》吧。虽然麦尔维尔在他的小说的非叙述性章节中，塞进了大量浸透和渲染了占有的快感，也就是“爱死物”的快感的文字，直接表述了带有资本主义原始资本积累时期强烈特征的价值观念，不过这毕竟是构成小说的次要结构因素。麦尔维尔的主要贡献是塑造了一个经典的人物形象亚哈船长。从《白鲸》问世以来，如何看待麦尔维尔笔下的亚哈船长，一直是人们争论不休的话题。1988年出版的《哥伦比亚美国文学史》，对亚哈船长给予很高的评价，在谈到这一人物给阅读者带来的历史性联想时，认为亚哈的对手白鲸，是“一条‘约伯的鲸’，是和那些原始的传说中的恶龙和海怪同属一类的，是那些肆虐于创世之际的混沌的力量象征；而亚哈则是柏修斯、圣乔治式的人物，自愿担当起救世的重任，去实现《以赛亚书》中的预言，去‘屠杀海里的恶龙’。”在这样一个神话的映照下，亚哈还是“一位十九世纪的思想家。”
按照这一思路，亚哈船长俨然是为正义而行动的悲剧性英雄，他在思想与行动上与《圣经》中的英雄神话、英雄人物一脉相承。在这篇短文里，不便讨论基督教早期自然观的利弊得失，引人注意的却是麦尔维尔为把亚哈船长、甚至将整部《白鲸》同基督教神话传说联系起来的种种努力。他在《白鲸》臃长的引文里，例数圣典中有关“巨兽”、“大鱼”、“大鲸”的记载，借用神话写作的方法，将亚哈船长装扮成半人半神的形象，他的仇敌也被赋予某种超自然的力量，形成了虚拟性叙事与神话性虚拟两种表述方式相互交融的叙述策略。这种写作策略亦虚亦实、亦神亦鬼，容易使阅读者产生类似服用迷幻药那种虚实颠倒的幻觉。亚哈船长一出场，就像“一个刚从火刑柱上解下来的人，………一条细长的、青白色鞭痕似的东西，像根线一般从他那簇灰发里蜿蜒而出，直顺着他那焦黄色的半边脸和脖子而下，消失在衣衫里。”作者并不点明造成这副伤残面孔的直接原因，而是引导阅读者按照他的暗示去想象。作者勾画了亚哈船长半倚半站的轮廓，强调的却是他的那条残腿，告知读者它是用“抹香鲸的颚骨加以磨光修整做成的”，省略了造成这位捕鲸船长伤残事件的缘由。将一个饱受伤害的形象推到读者面前，使读者没有机会思考那桩事件的原发过程：究竟是猎手攻击猎物在先，还是伤残了的猎物被动反扑在后？在这里，一个前提，一个必不可少的猎取和占有的动机被悄悄地掩盖了。那头大鲸变成了天生的恶魔，它成了捕鲸手的“天敌”（进而也就成了人的天敌）。而这位受伤害者所有的仇恨，所有的复仇行动因此变得正当，变成情理之中的事情。作者轻松地滑过了对那头大鲸，对大海，对整个大自然恐惧和仇恨起因的解释，以纯粹的复仇掩盖了一切，掩盖了远比宰杀一头恶兽更为实在的图谋。同时，小说为亚哈的疯狂和偏执，为那些同他的行为相类似的举动，找了可辩解的理由：“他对于白鲸的报复心理可能会多少扩大到一切抹香鲸，……他越多杀巨兽，就越增加机会，因为这样一条条地杀下去，最后的一条鲸就会是他所要猎击的可恨的鲸了。”
这是推出亚哈这一形象的图谋所在，也是这一形象的功用和价值所在。无论作者怎样遮掩，这一人物显然是为“扩张和征服”的目的塑造的，他具备这一目的所需要的一切特征：他头脑中只有一个目标，胸中翻动的只是一种情绪：他要彻底毁掉那头鲸，哪怕追杀到地狱的尽头。他成了驰骋于大海之上无所畏惧的超人，他是“船上的可汗，海中的之王，也是大海兽的太君”；他成了力量的象征，“施行一种随心所欲的霸权”；他是以自我意志为中心的旌旗手，不顾“裴廓德”号船员的生死，行为完全被所谓的“斗志和意志”所支配。这位与古代君王同名的捕鲸船长，最终以三天三夜的搏斗，完成了英雄的征程，按照作者的设计以殉道的方式与白鲸一道沉入海底。至此，这部虚拟作品释放了全部能量，把紧张、恐惧、仇恨、复仇的极端化情绪塞进了读者的记忆，进而成为长期存在的公众形象记忆的一部分。不管人们喜欢还是不喜欢，亚哈船长最终成了一尊在大自然面前不负任何责任，毫无敬畏和忏悔之心的冷面偶像。在后来相当长的一段时间里，这一形象助长了在大自然中无所顾忌、疯狂的行动，影响了这一行为向更大的范围蔓延。这一点，人们可以从1851年之后的那一段历史，从整个资本主义体系在陆地、在海洋，肆无忌惮的扩张中，从陆地生物和海洋生物大量灭绝的境况中有所感悟。
麦尔维尔确实捕捉到了一个大目标，他为早期资本主义对待大自然的态度，勾画出大体轮廓，也预示了其未来。麦尔维尔在《白黥》所拓展的母题以及相关的气氛、基调和人物，在后来的文学和艺术发展中被不断地因袭和复制，一个多世纪以来竟然潮起潮落，从未停歇。直至20世纪中叶，美国的电影公司还推出与《白鲸》相类似的海洋恐怖故事，它就是影片《大白鲨》 。无论从什么角度看，《大白鲨》都是《白鲸》的现代复制版。我相信，类似的叙述性作品今后还会陆续问世，只不过它的背景很可能不再仅仅是海洋，而是漫无边际的地球外层空间。
可以说，这就是《白鲸》写作的谜底。对人类社会的进步而言，无论它是一本好书，还是一本“坏书”，已是历史的一部分，成为支持资本主义体系的中心话语的重要部分，与当今人们的生活紧密相连，与人类的未来生死攸关。将1851年的麦尔维尔与资本主义体系捆绑在一起，进行批判性思考，有如翻弄一本陈年旧帐，但只要能给眼下被生态环境问题困扰不安的人们，带来一些有益的启示，就是值得的。
内涵寓意
麦尔维尔作品
主人公亚哈船长和白鲸莫比•迪克是一对尖锐的矛盾，这个矛盾集中代表了人类与自然界的强烈的冲突。用我们关于人与自然的关系来衡量，这个冲突的发生是客观的、必然的、不可回避的，是人与自然的关系的一个非常形象化的体现。亚哈船长是人类在自然面前的代表，是人类派来征服自然的。他是普通的人，却有着普通人所没有的坚毅刚强和不为名利所动的种种美德，但同时，在他的身上我们还发现了疯狂、自私、刚愎自用等种种劣迹，使我们对这一形象产生了全面立体的认识。从他的美德看，他近乎神明，让人信奉和激动不已；从他的阴暗的一面看，他又越来越接近莫比•迪克而成为了一个恶魔，让人感到可憎又可怕。正因为如此，亚哈船长才是一个真实而强大的人，只有他才能完成人类所赋予的剿灭白鲸的使命。对于亚哈来讲，这使命是神圣的，是历史性的。人类征服自然的过程是由无数个剿灭白鲸一样的过程组成的，每一个过程都有一个亚哈作为领袖。这领袖非亚哈莫属。因为亚哈既强大威严得像一个神，又确实是一个人。人类不可能依靠神力来征服和改造自然，那只是被称作神话的美好愿望。亚哈担起了进击自然的使命，它赢得了所有勇敢的人的尊敬和爱戴，他招致在自然面前缩首缩脚的懦弱的人的恐慌甚至憎恨。于是，人类自身的矛盾产生了，并且一步步加剧，仅次于人与自然的矛盾。人类在征服自然的过程中，必须解决好内部的矛盾，必须克服自身的种种弱点，只有这样，才能在与自然的较量中获得成功。
亚哈船长剿灭白鲸的过程包括了以上种种的因素。“裴廓德号”是人类社会本身的一个高度概括，是那个年代人类状态的一个缩影。亚哈船长剿灭白鲸的过程是人类征服自然的过程中的一个浓缩，是无数次殊死斗争中的一次。白鲸莫比•迪克是自然的代表，当然它也是自然阵营中最杰出的代表。莫比•迪克是一种自然力量的象征，是同样强大的自然的一种具体体现。自然由强大的莫比•迪克和无数个平庸的其他组成，正像人类由强大的亚哈和无数个平庸的斯达巴克、斯塔布和弗拉斯克组成一样。自然是丰厚和大度的，它是人类的依靠，是人类赖以生存的宝库，是人类的衣食父母，失去了它，人类将不复存在。自然是吝啬的，它从来都不主动给人类什么，人类从它身上得到的一切，都是靠着自己索取甚至掠夺而实现的。所以，人类搞不清自然究竟是人类的恩人还是仇人，还是时而是恩人时而是仇人，这一点，恐怕它自己也搞不清楚，因而才如此的矛盾重重。但是，仅就大鲸而言，自然和人类的冲突只可能是你死我活的，因为，人类行为方式在大鲸的身上只体现出对自然最残酷和最无道的一面，同样，大鲸所回报给人类的也只有殊死的反抗和阴险的报复。
在这样无数的矛盾之中，无数的冲突产生了。莫比•迪克充当着自然界的酋长，自命为自然的守护神，因而亚哈和莫比•迪克的冲突不可避免。在自然与人类的冲突中，结局的胜负是事关重要的，它影响着世界的前途，自然也决定着人类和自然的命运。最终亚哈和莫比•迪克同归于尽了。人类和自然谁也征服不了谁，他们就像是地球的两个极一样，互为依靠，互为补充，维持着世界的运转。人类和自然，是做敌人还是做朋友，这个问题找不到答案。逝去了的亚哈和莫比•迪克解决不了这个难题，现代人不知能否解决。人类如何面对自然，是人类所永久面临的一个话题，是人类能否保持自身的一个关键。
《白鲸》是伟大的作品，是力量和思想的所在，是美国文学史上的史诗之作。作者从富有到贫困的转折决定了他坎坷而闪耀着光彩的命运，而命运的多舛和对命运的不断抗争，则决定了他人生的力度和作品的力度。
赫尔曼·麦尔维尔-浪漫主义文学思潮
《白鲸记》电影海报
浪漫主义文学产生于18世纪末，在19世纪上半叶达到繁荣时期，是西方近代文学最重要的思潮之一。在纵向上，浪漫主义文学是对文艺复兴时期人本主义理念的继承和发扬，也是对僵化的法国古典主义的有力反拨；在横向上，浪漫主义文学和随后出现的现实主义文学共同构成西方近代文学的两大体系，造就19世纪西方文学盛极一时的繁荣局面，对后来的现代主义和后现代主义文学产生了深远的影响。
浪漫主义文学是西方近代文学两大主流体系之一，对整个西方文学产生的影响是勿庸置疑的。纵向上看，浪漫主义强调创作的绝对自由，彻底摧毁了统治欧洲文坛几千年的古典主义的清规戒律，是西方文学在近代历史上的又一次“文艺复兴”。20世纪的现代主义文学的诸流派，都可以看作是浪漫主义文学蜕变、演进的结果。很多现代主义者自称“新浪漫派”，可见浪漫主义文学与现代主义文学之间密切的联系。
在宏阔的社会历史背景中看，人类历史上没有任何一个文学思潮和风云变幻的社会变革如此密切的结合。浪漫主义文学是近代历史上人们对科学理性、物质主义带来的异化现象的一次彻底的检视和清算。浪漫主义颠覆了西方资本主义旧的价值理性，以强烈的反叛精神构建了一个新的文化模式。
此外，许多浪漫主义者重视对民歌、童话等民间文学的整理和搜集，在很大程度上保存并发扬了西方文学的民间传统。在德国和英国，浪漫主义就是从搜集民间文学开始的。浪漫派广泛从民间传说、神话、童话中撷取题材，极大的丰富了文学的表现手法，为现代主义文学题材的繁荣奠定了基础。
Early life, education, and family
Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819, the third child of Allan and Maria Gansevoort Melvill. After her husband Allan died, Maria added an "e" to the family surname. Part of a well-established and colorful Boston family, Melville's father spent a good deal of time abroad as a commission merchant and an importer of French dry goods. The author's paternal grandfather, Major Thomas Melvill, an honored survivor of the Boston Tea Party who refused to change the style of his clothing or manners to fit the times, was depicted in Oliver Wendell Holmes's poem "The Last Leaf". Herman visited him in Boston, and his father turned to him in his frequent times of financial need. The maternal side of Melville's family was Hudson Valley Dutch. His maternal grandfather was General Peter Gansevoort, a hero of the Battle of Saratoga; in his gold-laced uniform, the general sat for a portrait painted by Gilbert Stuart, which is described in Melville's 1852 novel, Pierre, for Melville wrote out of his familial as well as his nautical background. Like the titular character in Pierre, Melville found satisfaction in his "double revolutionary descent."
Allan Melvill sent his sons to the New York Male School (Columbia Preparatory School). Overextended financially and emotionally unstable, Allan tried to recover from his setbacks by moving his family to Albany in 1830 and going into the fur business. The new venture, however, was unsuccessful; the War of 1812 had ruined businesses that tried to sell overseas and he was forced to declare bankruptcy. He died soon afterward, leaving his family penniless, when Herman was 12. Although Maria had well-off kin, they were concerned with protecting their own inheritances and taking advantage of investment opportunities rather than settling their mother's estate so Maria's family would be more secure. Herman's younger brother, Thomas Melville, eventually became a governor of Sailors Snug Harbor.
Melville attended the Albany Academy from October 1830 to October 1831, and again from October 1836 to March 1837, where he studied the classics.
[edit]Early working life
Historical marker at the site of the family home in Albany, NY.
Melville's roving disposition and a desire to support himself independently of family assistance led him to seek work as a surveyor on the Erie Canal. This effort failed, and his brother helped him get a job as a cabin boy on a New York ship bound for Liverpool. He made the voyage, and returned on the same ship. Redburn: His First Voyage (1849) is partly based on his experiences of this journey.
The three years after Albany Academy (1837 to 1840) were mostly occupied with teaching school, except for the voyage to Liverpool in 1839. Near the end of 1840 he once again decided to sign ship's articles. On January 3, 1841, he sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts on the whaler Acushnet, which was bound for the Pacific Ocean. He was later to comment that his life began that day. The vessel sailed around Cape Horn and traveled to the South Pacific. Melville left little direct information about the events of this 18-month cruise, although his whaling romance, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, probably gives many pictures of life on board the Acushnet. Melville deserted the Acushnet in the Marquesas Islands in July 1842. For three weeks he lived among the Typee natives, who were called cannibals by the two other tribal groups on the island—though they treated Melville very well. Typee, Melville's first novel, describes a brief love affair with a beautiful native girl, Fayaway, who generally "wore the garb of Eden" and came to epitomize the guileless noble savage in the popular imagination.
Melville, always a reluctant subject, sat for this portrait in 1846/47.
Melville did not seem to be concerned about repercussions from his desertion from the Acushnet. He boarded another whaler bound for Hawaii and left that ship in Honolulu. While in Honolulu, he became a controversial figure for his vehement opposition to the activities of Christian missionaries seeking to convert the native population. After working as a clerk for four months, he joined the crew of the frigate USS United States, which reached Boston in October 1844. These experiences were described in Typee, Omoo, and White-Jacket, which were published as novels mainly because few believed their veracity.
Melville completed Typee in the summer of 1845, though he had difficulty getting it published. It was eventually published in 1846 in London, where it became an overnight bestseller. The Boston publisher subsequently accepted Omoo sight unseen. Typee and Omoo gave Melville overnight notoriety as a writer and adventurer, and he often entertained by telling stories to his admirers. As writer and editor Nathaniel Parker Willis wrote, "With his cigar and his Spanish eyes, he talks Typee and Omoo, just as you find the flow of his delightful mind on paper". The novels, however, did not generate enough royalties for him to live on. Omoo was not as colorful as Typee, and readers began to realize Melville was not just producing adventure stories. Redburn and White-Jacket had no problem finding publishers. Mardi was a disappointment for readers who wanted another rollicking and exotic sea yarn.
[edit]Marriage and later working life
Elizabeth Shaw Melville
Melville married Elizabeth Shaw, daughter of chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Lemuel Shaw, on August 4, 1847; the couple honeymooned in Canada. They had four children: two sons and two daughters. In 1850 they purchased Arrowhead, a farm house in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, now a museum. Here Melville lived for 13 years, occupied with his writing and managing his farm. While living at Arrowhead, he befriended the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who lived in nearby Lenox. Melville, an intellectual loner for most of his life, was tremendously inspired and encouraged by his new relationship with Hawthorne during the period that he was writing Moby-Dick (dedicating it to Hawthorne), though their friendship was on the wane only a short time later, when he wrote Pierre there.
Arrowhead, home of Melville, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
However, these works did not achieve the popular and critical success of his earlier books. Indeed, The New York Day Book on September 8, 1852, published a venomous attack on Melville and his writings headlined HERMAN MELVILLE CRAZY. The item, offered as a news story, reported, "A critical friend, who read Melville's last book, 'Ambiguities," between two steamboat accidents, told us that it appeared to be composed of the ravings and reveries of a madman. We were somewhat startled at the remark, but still more at learning, a few days after, that Melville was really supposed to be deranged, and that his friends were taking measures to place him under treatment. We hope one of the earliest precautions will be to keep him stringently secluded from pen and ink." Following this and other scathing reviews of Pierre by critics, publishers became wary of Melville's work. His publisher, Harper & Brothers, rejected his next manuscript, Isle of the Cross which has been lost. On April 1, 1857, Melville published his last full-length novel, The Confidence-Man. This novel, subtitled "His Masquerade", has won general acclaim in modern times as a complex and mysterious exploration of issues of fraud and honesty, identity and masquerade, but when it was published, it received reviews ranging from the bewildered to the denunciatory.
Melville in 1885, age 66.
To repair his faltering finances, Melville listened to the advice of friends and decided to enter what was for others the lucrative field of lecturing. From 1857 to 1860, he spoke at lyceums, chiefly on the South Seas. Turning to poetry, he gathered a collection of verse that failed to interest a publisher. In 1863, he and his wife resettled, with their four children, in New York City. After the end of the American Civil War, he published Battle Pieces and Aspects of the War, (1866) a collection of over 70 poems that generally was ignored by the critics, though a few gave him patronizingly favorable reviews. In 1866, Melville's wife and her relatives used their influence to obtain a position for him as customs inspector for the City of New York (a humble but adequately paying appointment), and he held the post for 19 years. In a notoriously corrupt institution, Melville soon won the reputation of being the only honest employee of the customs house. (The customs house was coincidentally on Gansevoort St., named after his mother's prosperous family.) But from 1866, his professional writing career can be said to have come to an end.
Melville spent years writing a 16,000-line epic poem, Clarel, inspired by his earlier trip to the Holy Land. His uncle, Peter Gansevoort, by a bequest, paid for the publication of the massive epic in 1876. But the publication failed miserably, and the unsold copies were burned when Melville was unable to afford to buy them at cost.
Plaque outside 104 East 26th street, New York
As his professional fortunes waned, Melville's marriage was unhappy. Elizabeth's relatives repeatedly urged her to leave him, and offered to have him committed as insane, but she refused. In 1867, his oldest son, Malcolm, shot himself, perhaps accidentally. While Melville worked, his wife managed to wean him off alcohol, and he no longer showed signs of agitation or insanity. But recurring depression was added to by the death of his second son, Stanwix, in San Francisco early in 1886. Melville retired in 1886, after several of his wife's relatives died and left the couple legacies that Mrs. Melville administered with skill and good fortune.
As English readers, pursuing the vogue for sea stories represented by such writers as G. A. Henty, rediscovered Melville's novels, he experienced a modest revival of popularity in England, though not in the United States. Once more he took up his pen, writing a series of poems with prose head notes inspired by his early experiences at sea. He published them in two collections, each issued in a tiny edition of 25 copies for his relatives and friends: John Marr (1888) and Timoleon (1891).
One of these poems further intrigued him, and he began to rework the headnote to turn it into first a short story and then a novella. He worked on it on and off for several years, but when he died in September 1891, he left the piece unfinished, and not until the literary scholar Raymond Weaver published it in 1924 did the book – which is now known as Billy Budd, Sailor – come to light.
The grave of Herman Melville and his wife
Melville died at his home in New York City early on the morning of September 28, 1891, age 72. The doctor listed "cardiac dilation" on the death certificate. He was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. A common story says that his New York Times obituary called him "Henry Melville", implying that he was unknown and unappreciated at his time of death, but the story is not true.
From about age 33, Melville ceased to be popular with a broad audience because of his increasingly philosophical, political, and experimental tendencies. His novella Billy Budd, Sailor, unpublished at the time of his death, was published in 1924. Later it was turned into an opera by Benjamin Britten, a play, and a film by Peter Ustinov.
In Herman Melville's Religious Journey, Walter Donald Kring detailed his discovery of letters indicating that Melville had been a member of the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City. Until this revelation, little had been known of his religious affiliation. Hershel Parker in the second volume of his biography makes it clear that Melville became a nominal member only to placate his wife. Melville despised Unitarianism and its associated "ism", Utilitarianism. (The great English Unitarians were Utilitarians.) See the 2006 Norton Critical Edition of The Confidence-Man for more detail on Melville and religion than in Parker's 2002 volume.
[edit]Publications and contemporary reactions
Title page of the first U.S. edition of Moby-Dick, 1851.
Most of Melville's novels were published first in the United Kingdom and then in the U.S. Sometimes the editions contain substantial differences; at other times different printings were either bowdlerized or restored to their pre-bowdlerized state. (For specifics on different publication dates, editions, printings, etc., please see entries for individual novels.)
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale has become Melville's most famous work and is often considered one of the greatest literary works of all time. It was dedicated to Melville's friend Nathaniel Hawthorne. It did not, however, make Melville rich. The book never sold its initial printing of 3,000 copies in his lifetime, and total earnings from the American edition amounted to just $556.37 from his publisher, Harper & Brothers. Melville also wrote Billy Budd, White-Jacket, Israel Potter, Redburn, Typee, Omoo, Pierre, The Confidence-Man and many short stories, including "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" and "Benito Cereno," and works of various genres.
Melville is less well known as a poet and did not publish poetry until later in life. After the Civil War, he published Battle Pieces and Aspects of the War, which did not sell well; of the Harper & Bros. printing of 1200 copies, only 525 had been sold ten years later. Again tending to outrun the tastes of his readers, Melville's epic length verse-narrative Clarel, about a student's pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was also quite obscure, even in his own time. Among the longest single poems in American literature, Clarel, published in 1876, had an initial printing of only 350 copies. The critic Lewis Mumford found a copy of the poem in the New York Public Library in 1925 "with its pages uncut"—in other words, it had sat there unread for 50 years.
His poetry is not as highly critically esteemed as his fiction, although some critics place him as the first modernist poet in the United States; others would assert that his work more strongly suggest what today would be a postmodern view. A leading champion of Melville's claims as a great American poet was the poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren, who issued a selection of Melville's poetry prefaced by an admiring and acute critical essay.
[edit]Critical response
[edit]Contemporary criticism
Melville was not financially successful as a writer, having earned just over $10,000 for his writing during his lifetime. After the success of travelogues based on voyages to the South Seas and stories based on misadventures in the merchant marine and navy, Melville's popularity declined dramatically. By 1876, all of his books were out of print. In the later years of his life and during the years after his death he was recognized, if at all, as only a minor figure in American literature.
[edit]Melville revival
A confluence of publishing events in the 1920s brought about a reassessment now commonly called "the Melville Revival". The two books generally considered most important to the Revival were Raymond Weaver's 1921 biography Herman Melville: Man, Mariner and Mystic and his 1924 edition of Melville's last great but never quite finished manuscript, Billy Budd, which Melville's granddaughter gave to Weaver when he visited her for research on the biography. The other works that helped fan the Revival flames were Carl Van Doren's The American Novel (1921), D. H. Lawrence's Studies in Classic American Literature (1923), and Lewis Mumford's biography, Herman Melville: A Study of His Life and Vision (1929). In 1945, the Melville Society was formed as a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating Melville’s literary legacy. Jay Leyda, better known for his work in film, spent more than a decade gathering documents and records for the day by day Melville Log (1951). In the same year Newton Arvin published the critical biography Herman Melville, which won the nonfiction National Book Award.
In the 1960s, Northwestern University Press, in alliance with the Newberry Library and the Modern Language Association, established ongoing publication runs of Melville's various titles. This alliance sought to create a "definitive" edition of Melville's works. Titles republished under the Northwestern-Newberry Library include Typee, Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces, Omoo, Israel Potter, Pierre or the Ambiguities, Confidence-Man, White Jacket or the World in a Man-of-War, Moby Dick, Mardi and a Voyage Thither, Redburn, Clarel , as well as several volumes of Melville's poems, journals, and correspondence.
[edit]Themes of gender and sexuality
Although not the primary focus of Melville scholarship, there has been an emerging interest in the role of gender and sexuality in some of Melville's writings. Some critics, particularly those interested in gender studies, have explored the existence of male-dominant social structures in Melville's fiction. For example, Alvin Sandberg claimed that "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" offers "an exploration of impotency, a portrayal of a man retreating to an all-male childhood to avoid confrontation with sexual manhood" from which the narrator engages in "congenial" digressions in heterogeneity. In line with this view Warren Rosenberg argues the homosocial "Paradise of Bachelors" is shown to be "superficial and sterile." David Harley Serlin observes in the second half of Melville's diptych, "The Tartarus of Maids," the narrator gives voice to the oppressed women he observes: "As other scholars have noted, the "slave" image here has two clear connotations. One describes the exploitation of the women's physical labor, and the other describes the exploitation of the women's reproductive organs. Of course, as models of women's oppression, the two are clearly intertwined." In the end the narrator is never fully able to come to terms with the contrasting masculine and feminine modalities. Issues of sexuality have been observed in other works as well. Rosenberg notes Taji, in "Mardi", and the protagonist in "Pierre" "think they are saving young "maidens in distress" (Yillah and Isabel) out of the purest of reasons but both are also conscious of a lurking sexual motive." When Taji kills the old priest holding Yillah captive, he states "remorse smote me hard; and like lightning I asked myself whether the death deed I had done was sprung of virtuous motive, the rescuing of a captive from thrall, or whether beneath the pretense I had engaged in this fatal affray for some other selfish purpose, the companionship of a beautiful maid." In "Pierre" the motive for his self-sacrifice for Isabel is admitted: "womanly beauty and not womanly ugliness invited him to champion the right." Rosenberg argues "This awareness of a double motive haunts both books and ultimately destroys their protagonists who would not fully acknowledge the dark underside of their idealism. The epistemological quest and the transcendental quest for love and belief are consequently sullied by the erotic."
Melville fully explores the theme of sexuality in his major poetical work "Clarel." When the narrator is separated from Ruth, with whom he has fallen in love, he is free to explore other sexual (and religious) possibilities before deciding at the end of the poem to participate in the ritualistic order marriage represents. In the course of the poem "he considers every form of sexual orientation - celibacy, homosexuality, hedonism, and heterosexuality - raising the same kinds of questions as when he considers Islam or Democracy."
Some passages and sections of Melville's works demonstrate his willingness to address all forms of sexuality, including the homoerotic, in his works. Commonly given examples from Moby Dick are the interpretation of male bonding from what is termed the "marriage bed" episode involving Ishmael and Queequeg, and the "Squeeze of the Hand" chapter describing the camaraderie of sailors extracting spermaceti from a dead whale. Billy Budd's physical attractiveness is described in quasi-feminine terms: "As the Handsome Sailor, Billy Budd's position aboard the seventy-four was something analogous to that of a rustic beauty transplanted from the provinces and brought into competition with the highborn dames of the court." Some critics argue that "Ahab's pursuit of the whale, which can be associated with the feminine in its shape, mystery, and in its naturalness, represents the ultimate fusion of the epistemological and sexual quest."
[edit]Law and literature
In recent years, Billy Budd has become a central text in the field of legal scholarship known as law and literature. In the novel, Billy, a handsome and popular young sailor impressed from the merchant vessel Rights of Man to serve aboard H.M.S. Indomitable in the late 1790s, during the war between Revolutionary France and Great Britain and her monarchic allies, excites the enmity and hatred of the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart. Claggart devises phony charges of mutiny and other crimes to level against Billy, and Captain the Honorable Edward Fairfax Vere institutes an informal inquiry, at which Billy convulsively strikes Claggart because his stammer prevents him from speaking. Vere immediately convenes a drumhead court-martial, at which, after serving as sole witness and as Billy's de facto counsel, Vere then urges the court to convict and sentence Billy to death. The trial is recounted in chapter 21, the longest chapter in the book, and that trial has become the focus of scholarly controversy: was Captain Vere a good man trapped by bad law, or did he deliberately distort and misrepresent the applicable law to condemn Billy to death?
[edit]Legacy
In 2010 it was announced that a new species of extinct giant sperm whale, Livyatan melvillei was named in honor of Melville. The paleontologists who discovered the fossil are all fans of Moby-Dick and wanted to dedicate their discovery to Melville.