Herman Melville. Herman Melville. "Billy Budd, Fore-Mars Sailor"

MELVILLE HERMAN

(b. 1819 – d. 1891)

Writer. Novels “Omu”, “Mardi”, “Redburn”, “The White Peacoat”, “Moby Dick, or the White Whale”, “Pierre, or Ambiguity”, “Israel Potter”, “The Tempter”»; the stories “Typee”, “Billy Bud, the Former Sailor”; collection of short stories “Tales from the Square”, poetry collections “Poems about War”, “John Marr and Other Sailors”.

Every nation has its own national epic. For the Germans it is the epic of the Nibelungs, for the English it is about the Knights of the Round Table, for the Finns it is Kalevala, for the French it is the Song of Roland, and among the Slavs it is epics. All of them were created on the basis of folk art coming from the depths of centuries. But the youngest American epic about Moby Dick was composed by one person - the writer Herman Melville, who lived at the time of the formation and prosperity of his country.

Fame came to him posthumously. If in the 4-volume Cambridge History of American Literature, published in 1917–1921, less than four pages were devoted to Melville, then the book by the University of Illinois by R. Stern (1957) contains a bibliography of more than a thousand titles of books, brochures, and articles , dissertations related to the life and work of the writer.

Meanwhile, Moby Dick, published in 1851, was not accepted and understood in America. The author of a one-of-a-kind book lived after its publication for almost 40 years in obscurity, working in the modest position of a customs official. And when he died, in the only and short obituary published in the New York Times, someone managed to make several mistakes in the name of the late writer.

Such a creative destiny, in general, is not uncommon in literature and art. But for a huge country to “not notice” and then completely “forget” a great book for half a century, for this to happen either the writer must go too far ahead, or readers and critics must lag immeasurably behind him.

With all this, it cannot be said that Melville lived his life inconspicuously and boringly. On the contrary, his youth was stormy, with adventures, with many dangers and happy discoveries. The son of a bankrupt New York merchant, Herman was forced to earn his own living from an early age, having neither the opportunity nor the means even for a secondary education. His school was a bank and a law office, where he served as a messenger and copyist of papers, and his university was a sailor's quarters, a ship's deck and the "sea wolves" who taught him the science of whaling. Herman went to sea as a cabin boy, only to return ten years later to his native New York as a traveler and seasoned sailor.

Melville experienced a lot during his distant travels. He was a fisherman, a hunter, experienced the heat and icy cold, the fogs of the polar seas. Melville was a sailor and harpooner on a whaling ship, served in the navy, participated in a ship mutiny, and lived with savages on exotic islands. Even for a very experienced person, all this would be more than enough. But in a man salted by the winds and hardened by adversity, there lived another Melville - one of the most educated people of his time, close to the circle of intellectual writers, a member of, as they would say now, the elite literary group “Young America”, whose members unconditionally appreciated the high level of culture your colleague.

The very first book, Typee, written in 1846, turned out to be unexpectedly topical and brought Melville great success. Based on the personal impressions of the writer, who during one of his voyages was a captive of the cannibal Taipei tribe for a month, it happily combined the facts of the true adventures of the traveler and a romantic utopia. The writer depicted the life of cannibals in the Marquesas Islands as a kind of idyll, against the background of which the social and moral vices of his contemporary society were especially clearly visible. Already in the story “Typei,” that line of philosophical prose was outlined, which later became the main one for the writer.

In 1849, Melville published a rather unusual book, Mardi, which still puzzles critics. She was far from reality, she was dominated by pure imagination, which, as the romantics said, is the shortest path to the truth. Naturally, few people understood such a work, and Melville had to come to terms with the failure of the book.

In the next two years, two more novels by the writer were published - “Redburn”, which used the experience of Herman’s sailing as a cabin boy on the ship “St. Lavrenty” and “White Pea Jacket” - observations of the life of naval sailors. But, in fact, all these novels were only preparatory to Melville’s most important book - the novel “Moby Dick, or the White Whale,” written in 1851.

Combining the theme of sea adventures with elements of fantasy, Moby Dick has become a classic example of philosophical prose, which unfolds the battle of the human soul with the eternal evil of the world. The plot of the novel is simple: the whaling ship Pequod, under the command of the fanatical captain Ahab, pursues an albino whale nicknamed Moby Dick across all seas. The story is told on behalf of one of the participants in this phantasmagoric hunt, the young sailor Ishmael.

The novel uses many biblical motifs, especially from the books of Job and the prophet Daniel. Captain Ahab is reminiscent of Israel's King Ahab, who defied God and vowed to destroy evil and injustice on earth. Melville put all the bitterness and rage of the ancient prophets into his cry: “Death and devils! This is Moby Dick!.. And I will pursue him beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and beyond Cape Horn, and beyond the Norwegian Malyntrem, and beyond the flames of destruction, and nothing will make me give up the chase. This is the goal of our voyage, people! Chase the white whale across both hemispheres until it releases a fountain of black blood and its white carcass sways on the waves.”

The name of another hero of the book of Ishmael is also consonant with the biblical Ishmael, the son of Hagar, expelled from his native land into the desert. But if Ahab argues with God, then for Ishmael God does not exist. Life is a blind, brute and merciless force. Heroes perceive the color white differently. For Ahab, he is an attribute of God, the clothing of the righteous, the “white horse of the desert.” And for Ishmael it is the color of a dead body, cold snow and deadly ocean foam.

Captain Ahab was never able to defeat the White Whale. His ship sinks along with its crew. Only Ishmael is saved. Melville's mournful book ends with a quotation from the book of Job: “And I alone was saved to tell Thee.”

In essence, the writer fulfilled the American dream of a national epic, although he probably did not strive for this. The ship's deck became part of American reality, and the whalers became the whole nation, fighting against the blind elements, not for survival, but for domination over it. And the whales in Moby Dick live a kind of double life. The material flows in the depths of the sea, and the symbolic unfolds in the human mind. All whales are embodied in Moby Dick, who no longer has anything to do with fishing. He is a demonic power and a great mystery of existence that must be unraveled. Speaking about the parallels between the images of Moby Dick and biblical motifs, it is necessary to clarify what truth is revealed to Ishmael. From a religious point of view, it is blasphemous: in the entire Universe there is no higher power that guides the life of man and entire nations. There is no God, no absolute spirit, no laws in it. There is only infinity and emptiness, which are indifferent to everything, including man.

Melville understood what young America needed. He seemed to be saying: there are no higher powers, no divine reason and no law of fate. The fate of America is only in the hands of each of its people. It was this thesis that the Americans embodied in the 20th century, creating an atheistic country in which, nevertheless, every citizen is a believer. And this is another explanation why Moby Dick became a national epic.

It remains to say a few words about the personality of Herman Melville. He was handsome, it’s not for nothing that the writer was called “America’s first sex symbol.” True, he never married, which biographers later explained as if he had homosexual inclinations.

"Moby Dick" was not a success among his contemporaries, just as the writer's three subsequent novels - "Pierre", "Israel Potter", and "The Tempter" - were not successful. And it was with the epic of the White Whale, paradoxically, that the decline in the writer’s fame began. Melville closed himself off and seemed to isolate himself from the outside world. After 1857, he never returned to prose, with the exception of the short story “Billy Bud,” written shortly before his death and published only in 1924. By the mid-50s. Herman Melville was firmly forgotten, and his death in 1891 went unnoticed.

And only at the beginning of the 20th century. America, as it were, rediscovered Melville for itself and the whole world, turning the writer into a cult figure. As if having come to their senses, the Americans surrounded the personality of their great compatriot with an aura of unprecedented veneration.

Today, Melville's authority in the country and abroad is enormous. Following the example of the English Shakespeare Society, the Melville Society was created in America. In addition, the traditional Melville Marathon has been held annually in New York for many years. Actors, musicians, and admirers of the writer who have come from all over America read the text of “Moby Dick” in turn (for ten minutes each) in one of the New York concert halls. The celebration ends with grandiose fireworks and folk festivities.

Of course, it is a pity that the great writer did not experience even a hundredth of this glory during his lifetime. But today, albeit belatedly, Herman Melville has taken his rightful place in the pantheon of world culture.

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Herman Melville "Moby Dick" 1851 Herman Melville is an American writer and sailor. He wrote not only prose, but also poetry. This is the main work of Herman Melville, the final work of literature of American romanticism. A long novel with numerous lyrical

Herman Melville

Six months on the high seas! Yes, yes, reader, imagine: not seeing land for six months, chasing sperm whales under the scorching rays of the equatorial sun along the wide rolling swells of the Pacific Ocean - only the sky above, only the sea and waves below, and nothing else, nothing! It has been many weeks since we ran out of all fresh provisions. Not a single sweet potato or yam remained. The magnificent bunches of bananas that formerly adorned our stern and quarterdeck, alas! disappeared, there are no more sweet oranges hanging from our forestays and yards. Everything is gone, and we have nothing left but corned beef and sea biscuits. Oh, you who travel in passenger cabins, you who make such a fuss about some two-week voyage across the Atlantic and talk with such sincere horror about your ship’s hardships - just think, after a whole day of breakfasts, teas, dinners out of five dishes, small talk, whist and punch, you, poor things, have to lock yourself in your cabins trimmed with mahogany and stained oak and sleep for ten hours at a time without waking up, unless “these rascal sailors” suddenly decide to “yell and stomp over your head,” - What would you say if you happened to spend six months on the high seas?!

I wish I could see at least one blade of grass that would refresh the eye! Inhale at least once the rich aroma of earth, crushed and fragrant in a handful! Is there really nothing fresh, nothing green around us?! There is, however, greenery. Our sides are painted green on the inside, but what a poisonous, sickly hue - as if nothing even remotely resembling living vegetation could endure this difficult path that leads away from solid ground. Even the bark that supported the firewood was peeled off and devoured by the captain's pig, and that pig itself had already been eaten a long time ago.

And in the bird fence there was only one single inhabitant left - the once cheerful dashing cockerel, proudly walking around surrounded by cutesy chickens. And now? Look at him: there he stands all day long, dejected, on his one tireless leg. And with disgust he turns away from the moldy grains scattered in front of him and from the rotten water in the trough. Without a doubt, he is in mourning for his dead girlfriends, who were literally snatched from him one by one and disappeared forever. But his days of mourning are numbered, for our black cook Mungo told me yesterday that instructions have finally been received and the death of poor Pedro is a foregone conclusion. Next Sunday his emaciated corpse will be laid out for farewell on the captain's table, and long before night falls he will be buried with all honors under the vest of this venerable gentleman. Who would believe that such a cruel person could be found who would wish the execution of the suffering Pedro? However, selfish sailors pray to God day and night for the death of the unfortunate bird. They say that the captain will not turn towards the shore as long as he has at least one fresh meat lunch in stock. The poor bird is doomed to serve him as his last such meal, and as soon as it is devoured, the captain must come to his senses. I don’t wish harm on you, Peter, but since you are still doomed, sooner or later, to share the fate of your entire family, and since the end of your existence should at the same time serve as a sign of our liberation, I must admit, let them cut your throat right now; for, oh, how I long to see the living earth again! Even our old schooner herself dreams of looking at the land again with her round hawse, and the daredevil Jack Lewis answered correctly when the other day the captain scolded him for not keeping his course well:

“You see, Captain Vangs, I’m as good a helmsman as anyone,” he said, “but nowadays none of us can keep the old lady on course.” She doesn’t want to go downwind or close-hauled; No matter how you look at her, she still strives to go off course, and when I, sir, gently put the rudder on board and kindly invite her not to shirk her work, she bucks and rolls onto the other tack. And all because, sir, she smells land on the windward side and does not want to go further downwind.

You're right, Jack. And how could it be otherwise? Didn’t her thick frames grow at one time on solid ground and doesn’t she, like us, have her own feelings and affections?

Poor old schooner! What more could she want? Just look at her. Her appearance is so pitiful! The paint on the sides, scorched by the scorching sun, began to bubble and peel. And there are algae trailing behind her, and under the stern what an ugly growth of ugly polyps and crustaceans! And every time, climbing a wave, she reveals to the world torn, crumpled sheets of copper sheathing.

Poor old schooner! After all, she carries her for six months without a break and tosses her through the waves. However, cheer up, old lady, I soon hope to see you in the green bay, peacefully rocking at anchor in safe shelter from the violent winds and so close to the cheerful shores that it’s just a stone’s throw or a throw away with a mossy cracker!

“Hurray, brothers! It’s been decided: in a week we’ll set course for the Marquesas Islands!”

Marquesas Islands! What strange, witchcraft visions this name evokes! Naked houris, cannibal feasts, coconut groves, coral reefs, tattooed chiefs and bamboo temples; sunny valleys lined with breadfruit trees; carved shuttles dancing on clear blue streams of water; the wild jungle and its eerie guardians - idols; pagan rituals and human sacrifices.

Such were the strange, vague anticipations that tormented me the entire time we were sailing there. I was impatient to see as soon as possible the islands so colorfully described by the sailors of yesteryear.

The archipelago towards which we were heading, although it belongs to the earliest discoveries of Europeans in the South Seas (they first visited there in 1595), remains to this day the abode of a savage and pagan tribe. The missionaries, setting out on a voyage on behalf of God, bypassed these picturesque shores, leaving them at the mercy of wooden and stone idols. And how extraordinary are the circumstances under which they were discovered! On the water path of Mendaña, who was scouring the ocean in search of a golden shore, they stood like some enchanted land, and for a moment the Spaniard believed that his dream had come true. In honor of the Marquis de Mendoza - at that time the Viceroy of Peru - under whose patronage this voyage was begun, Mendaña gave the islands a name glorifying the title of his patron, and upon his return he enthusiastically and vaguely told the world about their splendor. But the islands, undisturbed by anyone for years, again seemed to have sunk into the darkness of the unknown; all the information we have about them has appeared only recently. And once every half century, some desperate sea tramp would inevitably stumble upon them, disturbing their peaceful slumber, and every time ready to take credit for the honor of a new discovery.

Information about the group of these islands is scanty - there are only occasional mentions in books about voyages in the South Seas. Cook, during his repeated voyages around the world, hardly stayed near their shores, and everything that we know about them is gleaned from two or three narratives of a more general nature. Among them, two books deserve special attention: “The logbook of the voyage of the American frigate Essex in the Pacific Ocean during the years of the last war” by Porter, which, as I heard, contains many interesting details about the islanders, although I was never lucky enough to see this book myself; and "Sailing the South Seas" by Stuart, chaplain of the American sloop of war "Vincent", where one of the sections is also devoted to this topic.

During the last few years the American and English whaling ships in the Pacific Ocean, being short of food, have called from time to time into the convenient bay of one of the Marquesas Islands, but the fear of the natives, rooted in the memory of the terrible fate that befell many white people here , kept the teams from communicating with the local population close enough to become familiar with their peculiar customs.

Protestant missionaries, apparently, despaired of ever tearing these islands out of the tenacious bonds of paganism. The welcome they received from the islanders in all cases, without exception, intimidated even the bravest among them. Ellis, in his Polynesian Studies, gives an interesting account of the unsuccessful attempt of the Tahitian Mission to establish a branch in one of the Marquesas Islands. In this regard, I cannot help but relate a rather funny incident that happened there shortly before my appearance.

One brave missionary, undaunted by the disastrous outcome of all previous efforts to pacify these savages and a firm believer in the beneficial power of female influence, brought to them a young and beautiful wife, the first white woman in those parts. At first, the islanders looked at this miracle with silent delight and, apparently, believed that in front of them was some kind of deity. But soon, having become accustomed to the charming external appearance of this deity and indignant at the veils that obscured his true forms from them, they wished to penetrate the sacred calico folds with their gaze and, quenching their curiosity, so clearly violated the rules of good behavior that they cruelly offended the sense of decency of this worthy lady . But as soon as they established her gender, their silent adoration gave way to outright contempt; and there was no count of the insults with which these indignant savages showered her, imagining that they wanted to shamelessly deceive them. To the horror of her loving husband, they tore off her clothes and made it clear that she would no longer be able to lead them by the nose with impunity. The noble lady was not so exalted in soul as to endure all this, and, fearing further outrages, forced her husband to abandon his undertaking and return to Tahiti.

Herman Melville - American writer and sailor - born August 1, 1819 in New York in the family of a businessman.

When Herman was 12 years old, his father died, leaving behind debts and forcing Melville to give up the idea of receiving a university education. From the age of 18 he sailed as a cabin boy on a packet boat, then worked as a teacher for some time; in 1841 sailed on the whaling ship Acushnet to the South Seas. A year and a half later, due to a conflict with the boatswain of the Acushnet, Melville escaped from the ship near the Marquesas Islands and was captured by the natives, then freed by the crew of an American warship. After three years of wandering, he returned to his homeland to engage in literary activities.

His novels, based on his own experiences, are Typee, or A Peep at Polynesian Life, 1846 ) and Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, 1847 ), which immediately brought fame to the writer (the novel “Typee” was Melville’s most popular book during his lifetime), are characterized by a retreat into the exotic, a complete rejection of the reality familiar to the reader. Melville takes his hero to the primitive world, to the savages of the South Seas, unspoiled by civilization. Behind the fascinating stories is a problem that worried not only Melville: is it possible, having abandoned civilization, to return to nature?

An allegorical novel about swimming as a philosophical search for the Absolute “Mardi and a Voyage Thither” 1849 ) was not successful.

In the following works, still starting from personal experience, Melville strives to analyze the surrounding reality and social relations. He writes Redburn: His First Voyage. 1849 ) and "White Jacket, or the World in a Man-of-War, 1850 ). “White Pea Jacket” depicts the evil and cruelty of the author’s contemporary military.

However, Melville abandoned realistic sea novels and created his main masterpiece, Moby Dick, or The White Whale. 1851 ). He proclaims the primacy of the irrational. In Moby Dick, Melville argues for the irrationalism of social relations; he paints a fantastically bleak reality dominated by a mysterious white whale named Moby Dick, who is virtually never seen, but who reveals himself to be "the results of his actions." Moby Dick rules over everything, he is rumored to be omnipresent (perhaps he symbolizes God or the devil).

"Moby Dick" was not appreciated by the vast majority of its contemporaries. After devastating criticism of the Gothic novel Pierre, or The Ambiguities, published a year later, 1852 ), - which depicts a writer who, among a noisy crowd, feels as lonely as at the Pole - Melville began to publish anonymously, publishing stories in magazines. Many of them were included in the collection “Stories on the Veranda” (The Piazza Tales, 1856 ). A year earlier, the historical novel “Israel Potter” was published. Fifty years of his exile" (Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile, 1855 ) about the forgotten hero of the American Revolution.

Melville's last novel was The Confidence Man: His Masquerade. 1857 ) is a caustic satire on human gullibility. The action takes place on the ship Nonsense, sailing down the Mississippi.

The money brought in primarily by the works of the early period still remained, and in 1860 Melville traveled around the world. However from 1866 to 1885 he was already serving as a customs official.

Melville continued to write, releasing the collections of short stories Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War. 1865 ), "John Marr and Other Sailors" (John Marr and Other Sailors, 1888 ), poetry collection “Timoleon” (Timoleon, 1891 ).

Herman Melville died September 28, 1891 almost forgotten in New York. Only in an anonymous obituary did they write about an “exceptionally gifted author” who had a “powerful poetic imagination.”

His latest work, the story "Billy Budd, Foretopman" 1891 ), remained in manuscript and was published only in 1924. The story of man's unfreedom before the laws of social life and nature again aroused interest in Melville. Based on Billy Bud, Benjamin Britten wrote one of his best operas ( 1951 ).

Since the 1920s a rethinking of Melville began, and he was recognized as a classic of world literature.

Main works:
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life 1846 )
Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South seas 1847 )
Mardi: And a Voyage Thither 1849 )
Redburn: His First Voyage 1849 )
"White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, 1850 )
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1851 )
"Pierre, or the Ambiguities" (Pierre: or, The Ambiguities, 1852 )
"Israel Potter. Fifty years of his exile" (Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile, 1855 )
"Tales on the Veranda" (The Piazza Tales, 1856 )
"The Confidence Man: His Masquerade" 1857 )
"Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War" 1865 )
Clarel: A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land 1876 )
"John Marr and Other Sailors" 1888 )
"Timoleon" 1891 )
"Billy Budd, Foretopman" 1891 )

Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American writer and sailor, author of the classic novel Moby Dick. He wrote not only prose, but also poetry.

Born in New York. When he was 12 years old, his businessman father died, leaving behind debts and forcing Melville to give up the idea of receiving a university education. From the age of 18 he sailed as a cabin boy on a packet boat, then worked as a teacher for some time; in 1841 he sailed on the whaling ship Acushnet to the South Seas. A year and a half later, due to a conflict with the boatswain of the Acushnet, Melville escaped from the ship near the Marquesas Islands and was captured by the natives, then freed by the crew of an American warship. After three years of wandering, he returned to his homeland to engage in literary activities.

His novels, based on his own experience, “Typee, or a Glance at Polynesian Life” and “Omu: A Tale of Adventure in the South Seas,” which immediately brought fame to the writer (the novel “Typee” was Melville’s most popular book during his lifetime), are characterized by his departure into the exotic, a complete rejection of the reality familiar to the reader. Melville takes his hero to the primitive world, to the savages of the South Seas, unspoiled by civilization. Behind the fascinating stories is a problem that worried not only Melville: is it possible, having abandoned civilization, to return to nature?

The allegorical novel about swimming as a philosophical search for the Absolute “Mardi and the Journey There” was not successful.

In the following works, still starting from personal experience, Melville seeks to analyze the surrounding reality and social relations

However, Melville abandoned realistic sea novels and created his main masterpiece, Moby Dick, or the White Whale. He proclaims the primacy of the irrational. In Moby Dick, Melville argues for the irrationalism of social relations; he paints a fantastically bleak reality dominated by a mysterious white whale named Moby Dick, who is virtually never seen, but who reveals himself to be "the results of his actions." Moby Dick rules over everything, he is rumored to be omnipresent (perhaps he symbolizes God or the devil).

Melville's last novel was The Tempter: His Masquerade, a scathing satire on human gullibility. The action takes place on the ship Nonsense, sailing on the Mississippi.

The money brought in primarily by the works of the early period still remained, and in 1860 Melville traveled around the world. However, from 1866 to 1885 he already served as a customs official.

Since the 1920s, a rethinking of Melville began, and he was recognized as a classic of world literature.

Books (6)

Collection of books

Bell tower
White pea coat
Benito Sereno
Billy Budd, fore-mars sailor
Veranda
Two temples
Jimmy Rose
Diary of a trip to Europe and the Levant

Moby Dick, or the White Whale
Omu
Scribe Bartleby
Heaven for Bachelors and Hell for Girls
Violinist
Poems and poems
Happy failure. History on the Hudson River
Typee
Lightning Rod Trader
Encantadas, or Enchanted Islands
Me and my fireplace

White pea coat

The novel “The White Pea Coat” by the American writer Herman Melville is dedicated to sailing on a US military frigate in the mid-19th century.

In 1843, the author enlisted on such a frigate as a simple sailor and served on it for more than a year. The novel (1850), which is only partly a chronicle, describes in detail the life and everyday life of military sailors, their colorful figures, as well as the features of ships and naval service in that era. A range of philosophical, romantic and socio-political reflections are presented.

Israel Potter. Fifty years of his exile

A patriotic American novel, not without, however, a critical analysis of the essence of the United States; an artistic treatment of the memoirs of the hero of the War of American Independence, a native of the mountains in Massachusetts, Israel Potter, who came from a family of pious Puritans (hence the name), forgotten already in the time of G. Melville.

The life of Israel Potter was full of adventures and hardships (farmer, hunter, farmer, whaler, soldier, sailor, etc.). During the war between the United States and England, he took part in battles on land and at sea, was captured, fled and hid.

In the end, due to the vicissitudes of fate, Potter settled in England and started a family there, living in poverty for about fifty years. At the end of his life, he returned to his native land, where he dictated his memoirs. Israel Potter received neither reward nor pension from his homeland.

Moby Dick, or the White Whale

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1819-1891) is considered the greatest American novel of the 19th century.

At the center of this unique work, written contrary to all the laws of the genre, is the pursuit of the White Whale. A fascinating plot, epic sea scenes, descriptions of bright human characters in harmonious combination with the most universal philosophical generalizations make this book a true masterpiece of world literature.

Omu

The novel “Omu” by the famous American writer Herman Melville (1819-1891), first published in 1847, tells about the further adventures of the hero of Melville’s first book, “Typee”.

Finding himself on board an English schooner, he and the rest of the sailors were landed in Tahiti for refusing to continue sailing. A significant part of the book is devoted to a description of life in Tahiti and the neighboring islands, the rule of English missionaries there, and the behavior of the French who had just taken possession of the Society Islands.

The types of the English consul, the schooner captain and his senior mate, the ship's doctor, sailors and a number of Polynesians who have already experienced the detrimental influence of the most negative aspects of European civilization, but have partially retained their former virtues - honesty, good nature, hospitality, are clearly depicted.

Typee

The first novel by the American writer Herman Melville tells about his stay in the Polynesian tribe of cannibals, the Taipei, on one of the Marquesas Islands, where the author fled from the hardships of sailor service from a whaling ship in 1842.

A number of observations are ethnographic in nature. The philosophical and social aspects of the life of pagan cannibals are examined in comparison with the life of the civilized Christian world. The novel is considered completely autobiographical.

An outstanding writer and poet with a complex creative and personal life. Herman was born in New York in 1819 in the family of an unsuccessful businessman. When the boy was 12 years old, his father died, leaving the family with debts that they had been paying off for a long time.

I had to give up my dreams of higher education. Upon reaching adulthood, he sailed as a cabin boy on a small postal and passenger ship. After that worked as a teacher for some time, but the call of the sea beckoned and Melville went to sea again, this time on a whaling ship.

There were some dangerous adventures. After conflicts and quarrels with the boatswain, Herman escaped from the ship near the Marquesas Islands. He was soon captured by the natives, from which he was freed by the sailors of an American warship. He wrote down his impressions of the experience in books.

Novels based on real events and brought unprecedented success to the aspiring writer. Readers were keenly interested in the exotic life of the “savages” and their compatriots who were captured by them.

The following novels, unfortunately, were not understood by the author's contemporaries. In them, Melville raised current issues. For example, in the novel “The White Pea Jacket,” the writer described the cruelty that naval soldiers showed towards foreigners.

The most significant and famous in Melville's work is considered to be a novel about whaling. Knowing firsthand about a profitable, but at the same time bloody way of making money, the author meticulously described in the book the intricacies of whaling and the structure of the largest animal on the planet - the whale..

Critics and readers attacked the book with indignation. They did not understand the deep meaning that the author put into the work. Complete rejection of the reality of his contemporaries led to the fact that the writer began publishing books under fictitious names in order to somehow make ends meet.

One of the latest books, “Pierre, or Ambiguity,” talks about the writer’s loneliness among a noisy crowd of ordinary people. With the last money left from his former popularity, Herman Melville fulfilled an old dream - he traveled around the world.

Later he worked at customs and continued to write books and poetry anonymously. Died in 1891. The obituary modestly mentioned the writing talent of an official working at customs . A complete rethinking of Herman Melville's work occurred after his death. Today he is included in the list of classics of world literature .

Quotes from a writer about life

“There lives within me a royal person who is fully aware of her royal rights”;
“We cannot live only for ourselves. Thousands of threads connect us with other people; and through these threads, this sympathetic connection, our actions become causes and return to us as effects”;
“In one moment, great hearts sometimes experience in acute agony the entire sum of small sufferings that in a weak person can be mercifully extended over a lifetime. And therefore, these hearts, even though each time their pain is fleeting, accumulate within themselves throughout their lives entire centuries of sorrow, composed of unbearable moments; for with noble souls even the dimensionless point of their center is wider than the circles of baser natures.”