Moby Dick: Political Allegory In Douglas And Melville

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“Who Ain't a Slave? Tell me that.”
By reading Fredrick Douglass and Henry Melville together, we can try to understand two forces of turmoil and change in 18th century. Frederick Douglass would view Moby Dick as a political allegory. At the time Moby Dick was written, half of the country was economically dependent on slavery. The way Melville conveys the issue of race is subtle, but with his powerful imagery and profound themes, the deeper issues of the book resonate with the reader after they put it back in their shelf.
Although the white whale may embody nobility, virtue, fear, and racial superiority (something that Frederick Douglass would find compelling), it’s important to analyze the actual setting that this story takes place in: The