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 Drawing on a rich variety of sources such as unpublished papers, letters, reviews, and family memorabilia, the chapters discuss the significance of these laws within Melville's own life.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.

Grapples with provocative and controversial questions of race that will refresh readers with a timely reading of a novel that has been exhaustively discussed Combines a plethora of biographical and archival research to lay out its convincing case Offers a comprehensive account of the book's literary history but also scholarly history surrounding the topic of race

Autorentext

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.

Inhalt
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.- 11I Do Not Baptise Thee in Name.- Moby-Dick and Black Blood.- 10 Moby Dick in Service.- Epilogue. <p