Herman Melville: An Anti- Transcendentalist or Not? :: Essays Papers

Herman Melville An Anti- Transcendentalist or Not? Melville, Herman (1819-91), American novelist, a major literary figure whose exploration of psychological and metaphysical themes foreshadowed 20th-century literary concerns moreover whose works remained in obscurity until the 1920s, when his genius was fin bothy recognized. Melville was born August 1, 1819, in New York City, into a family that had declined in the world. The Gansevoorts were solid, stable, eminent, prosperous people the (Hermans Fathers side) Melvilles were somewhat slight successful materially, possessing an unpredictable. erratic, mercurial strain. (Edinger 6). This difference between the Melvilles and Gansevoorts was the beginning of the trouble for the Melville family. Hermans mother tried to work her way up the social ladder by miserable into bigger and better homes. While borrowing money from the bank, her husband was spending more than he was earning. It is my conclusion that Maria Melville never committed herself emotionally to her husband, provided remained primarily attached to the well off Gansevoort family. (Humford 23) Allan Melville was also attached financially to the Gansevoorts for support. There is a lot of evidence concerning Melvilles relation to his mother Maria Melville. obviously the older son Gansevoort who carried the mothers maiden name was distinctly her favorite. (Edinger 7) This was a sense of alienation the Herman Melville felt from his mother. This was one of the first symbolists to the Biblical Ishamel. In 1837 he shipped to Liverpool as a cabin boy. Upon returning to the U.S. he taught school and then sailed for the South Seas in 1841 on the whaler Acushnet. after(prenominal) an 18 month voyage he deserted the ship in the Marquesas Islands and with a companion lived for a month among the natives, who were cannibals. He escaped aboard an Australian trader, leaving it at Papeete, Tahiti, where he was jailed temporarily. He worked as a field laborer and then shipped to Honolulu, Hawaii, where in 1843 he enlisted as a seaman on the U.S. Navy frigate United States. After his discharge in 1844 he began to create novels out of his experiences and to take part in the literary life of Boston and New York City. Melvilles first five novels all achieved quick popularity. Typee A Peep at Polynesian Life (1846), Omoo, a Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (1847), and Mardi (1849) were romances of the South Sea islands. Redburn, His First Voyage (1849) was base on his own first trip to sea, and White-Jacket, or the World in a Man-of-War (1850) fictionalized his experiences in the navy.