Moby Dick—these are the first two words that come to mind when one hears the name Herman Melville. While that is certainly his most famous novel, his name lives on in literary history for the plethora of memorable works he has produced. A major theme that he has contributed to the canon of American literature is the idea that all people live a shared humanity. His diverse range of styles and techniques used to convey this theme, as well as many others, include, but are not limited to, comedy, satire, allusion, chaotic writing, anacoenosis, encomium, antithesis, consonance, and polyptoton.
On August 1, 1819, Melville was born in New York City. After living there for a few years, his family moved to Albany to find work following the collapse
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In Typee, Melville discusses the Typee people’s communal life in much detail. This lifestyle gives support to the idea that the entirety of humanity shares common traits, experiences, and ethics. The Typees engaged in activities, such as fishing, building, worshipping, and rejoicing, together as one community. Despite the fact that the Typees did not have any formal institutions, such as a church or government, a “unanimity of feeling” exists, where everyone acts harmoniously (Watters 38). Due to intuition and some internal driving force rather than external social pressures, the Typee people cooperate and act in unison towards a common good, which aids in helping their society to flourish.
In Melville’s novel Mardi, the chapter “Dreams” is used to indicate that he believes in “the transcendental Over-Soul.” One of the characters, Babbalanja, says that, “We are full of ghosts and spirits… full of buried dead that start to life before us… that is their immorality” (qtd. in Watters 35). This quote demonstrates that Melville’s writing has not only a religious message, but also contains a social or anthropological message of our shared humanity. The “Over-Soul” concept means that every single person is connected to one another in spirit by some greater