Herman Melville: biography of the writer and his work

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Herman Melville is a famous American writer with a difficult fate. He began to work very early, he managed to see and learn a lot. In his youth - a traveler, in the middle of his life - a famous and respected writer, in maturity - a forgotten civil servant. Interest in the author's works arose only in the 19th century, and his fame began to grow steadily. Melville began to be perceived by the reader as a contemporary, and his novel "Moby Dick" became the most significant novel of the time.

Herman Melville: biography of a famous writer

Melville was born August 1, 1819 in New York. He began his secondary education at a local boys' school. When Herman was 12 years old, his father, who was engaged in commerce, went bankrupt. The family had to move to the city of Albany, where the boy was able to continue his education. The head of the family died in 1832.

Laboractivities and travel beginnings

Without completing his secondary education, Herman Melville was forced to start working to help his family. The young man changed several occupations. He was: a bank worker, a farmer, a teacher at a local school.

At the age of 20, Melville changes his measured lifestyle to sea travel - he gets a job first on a cargo ship, and then on a whaling ship. The extraction and sale of whale oil at that time was a very popular and profitable business. On this, many managed to make a fortune. However, the young man quickly got tired of this work and six months later he escapes from the ship while staying on one of the small islands.

Here he met and lived for at least six months in the local Taipi tribe, who were cannibals. Communication with local residents, the color of their life inspired the young writer to write a work of the same name, which was published in 1846 and quickly began to gain popularity.

After returning home, the young man begins to seriously think about his future. He tries to catch up in education. Reads a lot. It was during this period that he began to write.

The first works of the author

The style of the author is already felt in the work “Typei”. The narration is in the first person, and the main character describes his experiences, adventures and wanderings. The talented writer managed to keep the reader in suspense and wait for the long-awaited denouement, because such stories were rare for the literature of that time.time. Much Herman Melville took from his own experience, and something remained only fiction.

Another result of the young man's constant travels was the story "Omu". The work showed the life of different classes, from the point of view of the author. The writer ridiculed many aspects of people's lives. The story was ambiguously perceived and the author was even called a slanderer.

However, the allegations were unfounded. Herman Melville turned out to be an excellent observer and was able to study the character and behavior of people well. In his novels, he vividly and colorfully described human characters, their greed and cruelty.

Private life

In 1847, a young and already famous writer marries Elizabeth Shaw. The girl was from a well-known family in the city - her father was the chief judge. The family settled in New York.

The young couple lived in the same house with the family of Herman's brother, his mother and several sisters. At this time, Herman Melville repeatedly tried to get a job in government agencies, but did not achieve success. In parallel, he continues to write.

Romance "Mardi" and "White Pea Coat"

In 1849, Mardi and the Journey There was published. The new work had its own characteristics. It was completely fictional, the author gave free rein to his imagination. Here another feature of his creations is manifested - the uncertainty of the author. He always leaves room for other scenarios or a different opinion.

Melville's next novel, The White Pea Coat, has become adescription of the events he experienced. After young Herman left the whaling ship, he took a job on an American warship. Here he finds himself in a new environment for himself, gets acquainted with military customs and orders, sees the daily humiliation of soldiers.

In order to achieve the publication of the novel, the author goes to England. Upon his return, he decides to move to live in Massachusetts, where he acquires the estate together with his father-in-law. Here Melville decides to start farming and lead a quiet family life as a writer.

Herman Melville. Moby Dick

Already having moved out of town, Melville got acquainted with N. Hawthorne. It was this acquaintance that inspired the writer to write a new novel, which became his most famous work.

The novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville is the crowning achievement of the author. All the works written earlier were only a preparation for the main creation. Despite this, the novel did not receive success with the American public.

Outwardly, the work did not impress. It was the story of a traveler on a whaling ship. However, here the author was able to intertwine a huge number of genres. The book by Herman Melville "Moby Dick" is an adventure, philosophical reasoning, fantasy, and a moralistic novel. The author describes in great detail the intricacies of whaling, the nature of the characters, as well as the features, varieties and anatomy of whales.

Herman Melville's Moby Dick is full of symbols. In the process of revealing the image of the whale, Moby Dick appears. ATUltimately, the white whale, the main purpose of the ship's trip, becomes the personification of the problems and issues that torment humanity as a whole.

Another symbol of the work is the ship's crew. He represents all of humanity, who wanders through life like a ship in the ocean.

Further creativity of Melville

After the novel "Moby Dick", which the American public accepted rather dryly, Herman Melville writes several more novels and short stories ("Pierre", "Israel Potter", "The Rogue" and others). However, none of the works brought the author any fame, recognition, or income. Almost all of them were recognized as either complete or partial failure. The financial situation of the family was rapidly deteriorating. Even friendship with famous personalities, among whom N. Hawthorne remained, did not give a result. Friends tried in vain to find a good position for Melville.

In 1856, Melville is forced to sell his half of his house in Massachusetts to his brother. With the funds received, the writer decides to go on a trip, hoping to restore his physical he alth and moral peace.

On his return, the writer gets a job teaching at the university, where he lectures on the situation in Rome and the South Seas. Only after the death of the father-in-law in 1866 did the family manage to improve their financial situation. The father left his half of the estate to his daughter. The sale of the house helped Melville publish the "War Poems" he had written earlier. But this work did not bear fruit. At the same time, the writer finally manages to get a job,to a public position as a customs inspector.

The 60s Melville devoted to work on the poem "Clarail". Despite the duration of the work and the diligence of the author, the writer was again not understood.

At this time, several tragedies occur in Herman Melville's family life: two of his sons die, one of his daughters becomes seriously ill, and they break off relations with the other.

Billy Budd, Fore Marseer

The last years of his life the author devoted to work on the story "Billy Budd, Fore Mars Sailor". The writer did not have time to publish the work, it remained in the manuscript.

The story was published only in 1924 and was a huge success. The author has finally achieved recognition.

Reviews of the writer's books

Herman Melville reviews are mostly positive. The greatest interest is his novel "Moby Dick". The reader notes that the writer writes very interestingly and the plot is addictive, but there are many interweaving plots and lines in the book, which makes one be attentive. It is the complexity of reading the novel that often repels lovers of light reading from it. The symbolism of the work makes it even more mysterious and interesting at the same time.