Moby-Dick and Melville's Anti-Slavery Allegory
This book unfurls and examines the anti-slavery allegory at the subtextual core of Herman Melville’s famed novel, Moby-Dick. Brian Pellar points to symbols and allusions in the novel such as the albinism of the famed whale, the “Ship of State” motif, Calhoun’s “cords,” the equator, Jonah, Narcissus, St. Paul, and Thomas Hobbe’s Leviathan. The work contextualizes these devices within a historical discussion of the Compromise of 1850 and subsequently strengthened Fugitive Slave Laws. Drawing on a rich variety of sources such as unpublished papers, letters, reviews, and family memorabilia, the chapters discuss the significance of these laws within Melville’s own life.  
After clarifying the hidden allegory interconnecting black slaves and black whales, this book carefully sheds the layers of a hidden meaning that will be too convincing to ignore for future readings: Moby-Dick is ultimately a novel that is intimately connected with questions of race, slavery, and the state. 
1125507045
Moby-Dick and Melville's Anti-Slavery Allegory
This book unfurls and examines the anti-slavery allegory at the subtextual core of Herman Melville’s famed novel, Moby-Dick. Brian Pellar points to symbols and allusions in the novel such as the albinism of the famed whale, the “Ship of State” motif, Calhoun’s “cords,” the equator, Jonah, Narcissus, St. Paul, and Thomas Hobbe’s Leviathan. The work contextualizes these devices within a historical discussion of the Compromise of 1850 and subsequently strengthened Fugitive Slave Laws. Drawing on a rich variety of sources such as unpublished papers, letters, reviews, and family memorabilia, the chapters discuss the significance of these laws within Melville’s own life.  
After clarifying the hidden allegory interconnecting black slaves and black whales, this book carefully sheds the layers of a hidden meaning that will be too convincing to ignore for future readings: Moby-Dick is ultimately a novel that is intimately connected with questions of race, slavery, and the state. 
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Moby-Dick and Melville's Anti-Slavery Allegory

Moby-Dick and Melville's Anti-Slavery Allegory

Moby-Dick and Melville's Anti-Slavery Allegory

Moby-Dick and Melville's Anti-Slavery Allegory

eBook1st ed. 2017 (1st ed. 2017)

$99.00 

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Overview

This book unfurls and examines the anti-slavery allegory at the subtextual core of Herman Melville’s famed novel, Moby-Dick. Brian Pellar points to symbols and allusions in the novel such as the albinism of the famed whale, the “Ship of State” motif, Calhoun’s “cords,” the equator, Jonah, Narcissus, St. Paul, and Thomas Hobbe’s Leviathan. The work contextualizes these devices within a historical discussion of the Compromise of 1850 and subsequently strengthened Fugitive Slave Laws. Drawing on a rich variety of sources such as unpublished papers, letters, reviews, and family memorabilia, the chapters discuss the significance of these laws within Melville’s own life.  
After clarifying the hidden allegory interconnecting black slaves and black whales, this book carefully sheds the layers of a hidden meaning that will be too convincing to ignore for future readings: Moby-Dick is ultimately a novel that is intimately connected with questions of race, slavery, and the state. 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9783319522678
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date: 06/15/2017
Series: American Literature Readings in the 21st Century
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 234
File size: 804 KB

About the Author

Brian Pellar has authored four papers in Sino-Platonic Papers, a scholarly monographic series. After serving four years in the US Navy, he studied art, biology, and psychology, and ultimately English. He currently lives in Boston, MA.

Table of Contents

Introduction.- 2 Melville’s Motivations.- 3 The Ship of State.- 4 Hemp and Calhoun’s “Cords”.- 5 Man as Whale.- 6. “This Afric Temple of the Whale”.- 7 The Equator.-8 “Who Ain’t a Slave?”.- 9 “The Log and the Line”.- 10 St. Paul.- 11“I Do Not Baptise Thee in Name”.- Moby-Dick and “Black Blood”.- 10  Moby Dick in Service.- Epilogue.

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