A Study of the Dramatic Interludes in Moby Dick
Graduation Date
Winter 1955
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Degree Granting Institution
Catholic University of America
Program Name
Humanities
Abstract
Although the majority of literary critics recognize the merit of Herman Melville’s masterpiece, Moby Dick, and accord it a high place in American literature, much that is disparaging has been written on Its disorderliness of style and structure, and the resultant lack of artistic unity. Adversely, many concede that Melville has produced in it a work of unusual value; that it is far above the level of an ordinary work of fiction, combining, as It does, a thrilling’ narrative of a whaling voyage, many philosophic passages, much informative material about the whaling craft and the nature and habits of whales, and, in addition, a number of vivid dramatic passages which are closely interwoven with the narrative. According to Taylor, "Diverse as are the materials which Melville weaves together, they form a complete whole. Stone admits that although the book was written hastily, and therefore shows no "painstaking artistry," it is nevertheless a "sustained and unified work." Similar admissions are made by other critics.
It seems inconsistent to grant that Melville achieved a masterly product while using methods of arrangement and a style so disorderly that their results have been termed "Bedlam literature." If the product is not only admirable, but of extraordinary beauty as it has generally been acknowledged, the plan the author used cannot reasonably merit unmitigated condemnation• w4s a piece of writing/' says Boynton, Moby Dick serves as a reminder that the greatest stories In literature are newer the most neatly constructed.