Jason's Personal Reflection

Jason Orr

Professor Holmberg

English 352

7 March 2013                            

Staking Claim: President James Polk and Melville’s Vision of Imperialism

            In his “First Annual Message” to Congress on December 2, 1845, President James Polk wrote to Congress of his intention to prevent Europe from claiming territories on the North American to include Oregon, California, and Texas (Richardson). Essentially, he was reinforcing the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which prevented further colonization in the Western Hemisphere by Europeans. Polk’s vision of Manifest Destiny was for “the addition of new states to our confederacy . . . [and] the expansion of free principles” (Polk qtd in Richardson). Specifically, the British desired to colonize Oregon, which would usurp American pioneer claims.  

In Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab can be viewed as an allusion to Polk, who advocated for

supreme control over the continent, while Ahab sought dominance over the whale by way of dominance over the ocean. In chapter fourteen, Melville suggested that the Nantucket whalers were conquerors of the sea; thus, they had “overrun and conquered the watery world like so many Alexanders; parceling out among them the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, as the three pirate powers did Poland. Let America add Mexico to Texas, and pile Cuba upon Canada . . . two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketers” (65). In short, the oceans were fair game for whalers, which allowed America to dominate the whaling industry during whaling’s “golden age” in much the same way an empire would.  

            Melville’s conception of the terms “Fast-Fish” and “Loose-Fish,” in Moby-Dick, relates directly to Manifest Destiny and imperial claims. In the novel, Melville defined a Fast-Fish as a whale claimed, or made fast to the ship, whereas, a Loose-Fish was “fair game” for any ship (308). If one imagines the whales as territory on the American continent, the claimed territory on which American settlers were located, the Oregon Territory for instance, would be considered a Fast-Fish. In other words, the western pioneers would have claim over this territory for the United States in the same way a whaler might claim a whale by killing it and making it fast it alongside the ship.

            One of Polk’s aims in extending power over the continent was to send a message to Europe that Texas was to be a Fast-Fish; however, the dispute with Mexico would lead to the Mexican-American War. Melville, through Ishmael, detailed the history of claims in the Western Hemisphere using his Fast-Fish/Loose-Fish analogy: “. . . [I]s Texas but a Fast-Fish? . . . What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish . . . What was Poland to the Czar? What Greece to the Turk? What India to England? What at last will Mexico be to the United States? All Loose-Fish” (310). In other words, Ishmael was arguing that claims over land are always open to disagreement because powerful nations use force to dislocate native peoples regardless of claim.

            While, the annexation of Texas provided a context for Polk’s message to Congress, the United States annexed Native American land as states added and claims made. According to Polk, the pioneers triumphed over Native Americans, overcoming the “. . . privations and dangers [which] lead the way through savage tribes inhabiting the vast wilderness intervening between our frontier settlements and Oregon . . .” (Polk/Richardson). In essence, Polk, and the nation, did not consider the sovereignty of Native American or Mexican claims because they believed it was their divine right to claim this land under the pretext of democracy.

Works Cited

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Ed. Hershel Parker and Harrison Hayford. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.

Richardson, James D., ed. "James K. Polk: Reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2013.

Morgan's Personal Reflection

Morgan Maxey

Holmberg

English 352

26 February 2013

Try-Works; The Beginning of Industry

            In Melville’s, Moby Dick, there is a heavy focus on whaling as well as all the aspects of the industry and a narrative describing the life of a whaler among a crew of many. In this novel we see many themes become more apparent and relevant to the story and in essence society as well. One of these large themes is that of industrialization, or the shift towards a producing and consuming on a large scale as technology was quickly evolving. The whaling industry was the most prominent large-scale business in the 19^th century, as hundreds of ships roamed the oceans in search of whales in order to kill them and take their carcasses to harvest resources such as oil, meat, and other products, which could be manufactured from whales. The Try-Works which, were aboard these whaling ships, were the epitome of industry as they represented the smokestacks, which followed later in the industrial revolution, along with the notion of an assembly line as well.

The Try-Works were most commonly placed in the middle of the whaling ship and were the last step in the production line; once the whale was carved, minced, and disassembled the blubber would be placed in the Try-Works and heated to the boiling causing the blubber or fat to melt into oil which was used for lamps and heating, this process can easily be related to the method one uses to turn bacon fat into bacon grease. This being the last step in the process of turning the whale into a product for everyday use it epitomizes the theme and notion of industrialization. This is easily seen in chapter 96 as Melville describes the scene of the crew firing up the Try-Works in a demonic and gloomy manner, referring to the flames as dark and “pitching hissing masses of blubber into, the scalding pots”, “The smoke rolled away in sullen heaps.” (Mellville, 350). These descriptions paint a picture of being in some sort of hellish factory.

His hellish depiction of a factory was the Try-Work, and also represents the final step of the process of imperialism. Melville characterized Moby Dick, the white whale as a nation or nature. The process of whaling and the slow hunting and death of the whale can be paralleled with the institution f imperialism as it follows the same process. One nation (the whaling ship) is tasked by some higher power within the nation; this power is almost always capitalism, to go seek resources from some other foreign nation (the whale). In the case of whaling the resources sought are oil, meat, perfume, and along with many others, these desired resources are forcefully taken with a sense of entitlement as is done with the dealings with nations as well, this is demonstrated throughout history with examples such as slavery, racial hierarchies, diamond trade, etc. This is the classic story of the exploitation of one culture or nation solely for resources, our nation is founded on the principle, and we should all be familiar with such motives.

In conclusion the Try-Works could be seen as a symbol, which represents both the industrialization period along with the notion of imperialism, both, viewed in a negative light by Melville. Keep in mind that these themes would both be erased if it weren’t for the mass fleet of ships present at this time, there would be no justification if there was but one ship, one Try-Work, and whales which were thriving. This is all shaped in the context of over hunting of whales as well as the decline of the whaling industry as every industry eventually falls as does every empire.

John's Personal Reflection Piece

 John Flanagan

English 352 Winter 2013

In a close reading of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick it remains almost impossible to discuss topics of race, imperialism, colonialism, and industrialization without simultaneously investigating all concurrent historical developments. With this in mind, the most influential historical text regarding my reading of the novel was John L. O’Sullivan’s definition and coinage of the term “manifest destiny”. Within American history the idea of American exceptionalism, and divinely inspired democratic rule pervade most thought in regard to imperialism and expansionism dating back through Jefferson to the Pilgrims and John Winthrop’s “city upon a hill” doctrine. However, O’Sullivan’s theories existed at a point just before Melville’s novel was published, and served to influence all mainstream political theory of he time as well.

            To reiterate, O’Sullivan proclaimed the United States to be a God-given nation with the express “manifest destiny” of overspreading the continent (and in more extreme examples the world). The doctrine also involved a deep religious and racialized signifigance as well in terms of ending the heathenism and primitiveness of the lesser races as American democracy spread across the land. O’Sullivan wrote in an editorial published in The New York Morning News on December 27^th, 1845, “…and that claim is by the right of our manifest destiny to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government entrusted to us.” Essentially, O’Sullivan borrows the same idea as James K. Polk of a European balance of power from the Monroe Doctrine while also adding to popular thought that the United States should expand while limiting European power. He claims earlier within the same article that given the exact same situation, other world powers would expand, and probably without as much investigation and thought as the United States.

            In terms of illumination of Melville’s work, he constantly evokes imagery surrounding expansion, while also tying that expansion very closely to race and ideas of colonialism. This begins in chapter 14 of Moby-Dick. Melville writes of Nantucketers as a group, “…issuing forth from their ant-hill in the sea, overrun and conquered the watery world like so many Alexanders; parceling out among them the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as the three pirate powers did Poland. Let America add Mexico to Texas, and pile Cuba upon Canada...two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer’s” (Melville, 65). Comparisons to the greatest conqueror, expansionist, imperialist and assimilationist of all time (Alexander the Great) only serve to draw the book more closely with contemporary acts of imperialism. Melville seems to be equating the trips and treks of whaling ships to the campaigns of great nations across uncivilized lands bring cultural imperialism. Interestingly, Melville refers directly to the Mexico dilemma, which O’Sullivan refers to in the same article noted above. O’Sullivan advocated for the idea that all of Mexico should join the Union along with Texas. Within this idea obviously a racialized contradiction remains apparent because he claims to want to annex Mexico, but without granting American citizenship to the darker races. This racial contradiction is also often felt in Melville’s conception of the whaling ship as a nation expanding onto the seas. In chapter 27 Melville writes, “…not one in two of the many thousand men before the mast employed in the American whale fishery, are Americans born, though pretty nearly all the officers are…in all these cases the native American liberally provides the brains, the rest of the world as generously supplying the muscles” (Melville, 107). At the heart of Melville’s ruminations upon imperialism lies the Pequod as a symbol of an assimilated nation of subjugated peoples ruled by the ultimate imperialistic leader in the character of Ahab. Ahab’s quest to conquer the “nation” which the white whale represents only works as a further accentuation of the themes of imperialism set out in Melville’s work.

Works Cited:

O'Sullivan, John L. "Manifest Destiny." Editorial. New York Morning News [New York City] 27 Dec. 1845: n. pag. Print.

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick. Ed. Hershel Parker and Harrison Hayford. New York: Norton, 2002. Print.

Bibliography

Group Bibliography:

Gast, John. American Progress. 1872. Library of Congress, Washington DC.

  Heflin, Wilson L. Herman Melville's Whaling Years. Ed. Mary K. Bercaw. Edwards and Thomas Farel Heffernan. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2004. Print.

Leyda, Jay. The Melville Log; a Documentary Life of Herman Melville, 1819-1891. Vol. 1. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1951. Print.

O'Sullivan, John L. "Manifest Destiny." Editorial. New York Morning News [New York City] 27 Dec. 1845: n. pag. Print.

O'Sullivan, John L. (July–August 1845). "Annexation”. United States Magazine and Democratic Review 17 (1): 5–10. Retrieved 2013-02-27.

"President Polk Declares War on Mexico." Son of the South. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. <http://www.sonofthesouth.net/mexican-war/polk-declares-war-mexico.htm>. 

Richarson, James D., ed. "James K. Polk: Reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013.

Modern Interpretation and Criticism

As a centerpiece of the ship, the try-works worked as the last step in converting whale oil into products meant for consumers. Thus, the chapter concerning the try-works represents industry as a whole. The cooking whale blubber is mentioned to look much like a smokestack over the water, and the boat resembles a floating factory. Essentially the boat is configured into an assembly line every single time a whale is captured.
In a review written by John McCurria of UCal San Diego, the author claims that Moby-Dick is a geopolitical representation of British imperialism through the practice of whaling. He writes, "Aboard the ship named after an exterminated Native American tribe are 30 men of African, European, Native American, Pacific Island and Asian descent, equal to the number of states in the federal union. All were enslaved under Ahab's proclaimed quest for freedom registered in his mad obsession with whiteness" (249). Ahab is essentially a slaveholder to all of the men on board the vessel, and can be seen to represent an agent of Native American genocide, transatlantic slave labor, and cultural imperialism.

Contemporary Reactions to Melville's Moby-Dick

Critical reactions to Melville's novels were diverse. Many criticized his treatment towards religion, most especially those in the church. However, William Ellery Channing Jr. wrote in The New Bedford Mercury:

"This bulky, queer looking volume, in some respects, 'very whale like' even in outward appearance. We have had before volume upon volume of narratives of whaling voyages, and adventures with leviathans of the deep, but never before a work combining so much of natural history as Moby Dick, nor in so attractive a guise as the volume before us...although as a whole the book is made to serve as a 'tub for the Whale,' the characters and subjects which figure in it are set off with artistic effect, and with irresistible attraction to the reader..."

Channing's reaction was not typical of most, however, and in a letter to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Melville expressed his displeasure over his close friends reaction to the novel:

"You did not care a penny for the book. But, now and then as you read, you understood the pervading thought that impelle the book-- and that you praised . Was it no so? You were archangel enough to despise the imperfect body, and embrace the soul."

Melville's Time at Sea

Melville had a long seafaring career before beginning to write Moby-Dick

Timeline:

1839: Melville joins the St. Lawrence

December 1840: Melville signs articles for the Acushnet whaling cruise

January 1841: Acushnet sets sail on its maiden voyage

June 1841: The Boatsteerer jumps ship and is replaced by Melville

June 1842: The Acushnet arrives on Nuka Hiva, Marquesas

July 1842: Melville is dissatisfied with French imperialism

1842: The economic recession causes tensions on the Acushnet

July 9th, 1842: Melville and shipmate Greene decide to desert the Acushnet

July 1842: Melville and Greene are capture by cannibals

August 1842: Melville escapes Taipis

August 1842: Melville joins Australian ship, Lucy Ann

1842: Melville refuses to work, aligns with the rest of the mutinous crew

September-October 1842: Melville jailed in Tahiti for mutiny

November 1842: Melville sails with Nantucket whaler, Charles and Henry, he is later promoted to boatsteerer

1843: Melville's contract ends with Charles and Henry

February 1843: Melville sails to the Sandwich Islands (Hawai'i), and finds the islands colonized by British

August 1843: In Honolulu, Melville joins frigate USS United States as a seaman

October 1844: Returns to Massachusetts on board the USS United States

Much of Melville's writing concerning natives, islands, whaling etc. obviously comes from first-hand experience. It also seems that many of Ishmael's ruminations and descriptions could actually just be Melville's own narration. Much of Melville's experience with imperialism and racialized relationships comes from this time period.