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14 - Herman Melville and the Bible

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2020

By
Ruth Blair
Edited by
Calum Carmichael
Calum Carmichael
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

A volume on the Bible and literature affords an opportunity to explore the conjunction of these terms in relation to a writer whose great work Moby-Dick (1851) – the story of the hunting-down of a white whale by an obsessed sea captain – came to have, after Melville’s lifetime, a mythic role for his nation and for the Western world. Melville’s life (1819–91) spanned the nineteenth century and he was one of its outstanding thinkers. His work throughout is profoundly influenced by biblical texts. This essay, noting the influence of the Wisdom books of the Old Testament, highlights both their capacity to help Melville think through the problems of his age, and their influence on his understanding of the power of story and the capacities of language. After a brief account of Melville’s formative years, the essay considers a long passage from Moby-Dick for the complexity of its resonances with Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. A discussion of the role of Wisdom in Melville’s long dramatic poem Clarel follows, with emphasis on the book of Job. A late sketch, “Daniel Orme” offers, through the figure of Daniel, material for a final reflection on Melville’s role as thinker and visionary for his society.

Keywords

Herman MelvilleMoby-DickClarelthe BibleEcclesiastesProverbsJobDanielnineteenth century literatureAmerican literature
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible and Literature , pp. 238 - 255
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

Further Reading

Bercaw, Mary K., Melville’s Sources (Evanston, IL, 1987).Google Scholar
Blair, Ruth, “Introduction.” Melville, Herman, Typee (Oxford, 1996).Google Scholar
Braswell, William, Melville’s Religious Thought (New York, 1959).Google Scholar
Coffler, Gail H., Melville’s Allusions to Religion: A Comprehensive Index and Glossary (Westport, CT, and London, 2004).Google Scholar
Cook, Jonathan A. and Yothers, Brian, Visionary of the Word: Melville and Religion (Evanston, IL, 2017).Google Scholar
Herbert, Walter, Moby-Dick and Calvinism: A World Dismantled (New Brunswick, NJ, 1977).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 1991).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Journals (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 1989).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Mardi: And a Voyage Thither (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 1970).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 1988).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 1968).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Published Poems (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 2009).Google Scholar
Melville, Herman, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life (Evanston, IL, and Chicago, 1968).Google Scholar
Pardes, Ilana, Melville’s Bibles (Berkeley, CA, 2008).Google Scholar
Parker, Hershel, Herman Melville: A Biography, 2 Vols. (Baltimore and London, 1996, 2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogin, Michael, Subversive Genealogy (Berkeley, CA, 1983).Google Scholar
Sealts, Merton R., Melville’s Reading (Revised and enlarged edition) ([Columbia, SC], 1988).Google Scholar
Wright, Nathalia, Melville’s Use of the Bible (Durham, NC, 1949).Google Scholar

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