A Utilitarian View Of The Monitor's Fight Poem Analysis

Herman Melville’s poem “A Utilitarian View of the Monitor’s Fight” discusses the further dehumanization of an already dehumanized idea: war. The poem describes the clunky and mechanical nature to the battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Merrimac, which marked the first usage of mechanized warfare anywhere. The implicit removal of the pomp and circumstance of war and themes of anti-heroism stand out in the poem due to the subject of the battles new impersonal means of fighting. The poem’s wording is not one of a traditional style of a flourishing, evocative prose. Instead it stands - as the title suggests - very much a utilitarian account with the wording plain but not blunt in it’s meaning. But it is not a simple recounting of the battle

“War shall yet be, and to the end; / But war-paint shows the streaks of weather;” (25-26). The war paint is synonymous with ancient warriors who don the mask to do battle. When applying the mask, the mindset of the person doing so changes. Courage and determination are tantamount here and the face of the person who dons mask changes to the face of the warrior. However, after the events of the Monitor’s fight, the image of the war paint contrasted by the streaks of weather demonstrates the will of the warrior breaking down. The weathered war paint also harks back to Line 15, “Deadlier, closer, calm 'mid storm.” Perhaps the ships fighting are calm during the storm of battle but those operate them show the weather more than anyone. “War yet shall be, but the warriors / Are now but operatives;” (27-28) the line continues with the repetition of the phrase “War shall yet be” to string it as a cohesive continuation from the previous lines through the stanza. As much the message continues the theme of war dehumanizing those who fight for it, by stating that perhaps at one point these soldiers were proud warriors but now they are no longer individuals. No, instead they become a cog or a pawn in the tragic game of war. The poem concludes with a striking statement of, "War's made / Less grand than Peace, / And a singe runs through lace and feather." (29-31). This final breakdown towards the idealistic idea of war becomes so far removed from reality that it becomes near meaningless. War is made less grand than peace by the people who act upon it and Whether it be the weathered war paint or its turning men into glorified pawns, the singe of humanity's darker side runs though the pomp and circumstance surrounding its ideals. When operatives lose their individuality when fighting for a cause, is that cause even worth fighting for? The removal of