Category: Moby Dick

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was born in New York. He was the son of a prosperous importer who went bankrupt and died young. He worked in a bank, as an elementary school teacher, and contributed to the local newspaper. He sailed as ships boy to Liverpool, and then joined in a whaling voyage to the South…

Whales are a constant in the seemingly infinite range of topics covered in Herman Melvilles Moby Dick. Moby Dick himself is the figure most often associated with the novel, his image sometimes decorating its front cover, but the descriptions of other whales throughout the book serve as the basis for some of Melvilles most cogent…