Two more misunderstood people: Herman Melville, Anna Nicole Smith. Stinting story about the death of the latter in NYTimes today. But love this quote from Anna Nicole -- "I love the paparazzi.They take pictures, and I just smile away. I've always liked attention. I didn't get very much of it growing up and I always wanted to be, you know, noticed."
Below, ambitious compilation of stuff by Pittsfield lawyer and perennial candidate Rinaldo Del Gallo on his quest to get Pittsfield schools to require students to read "Moby Dick." I used to work giving tour' of Melville's Pittsfield home Arrowhead. Gathered the author who gave us Ahab and Bartleby the Scrivener was pretty misunderstood in his day.
Email from Rinaldo Del Gallo to local press:
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Moby Dick Should be The Official Novel of Massachusetts
As can be seen from my January 15, 2007 letter, I had made inquiry why Moby Dick was not required reading in Pittsfield anymore. I sent my e-mail to the Superintendent of Pittsfield Schools, the Pittsfield School Committee, the high school English teachers a Taconic and Pittsfield high school, and a number of people that were Moby Dick scholars throughout the country. My premise was that Moby Dick should be required reading for Pittsfield High School students. The story was prompted by the purchase of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood†by the Pittsfield School Committee.
The response was varied. No academic scholar—one’s by the way that devoted a significant part of their academic study of Moby Dick—decided to respond to the e-mail.
On school committee member responded, “As you can see from the Eagle article, you are preaching to the converted. I have absolutely no idea why In Cold Blood should be included in the required reading for high school.†Another teacher responded, “Who are you.†One person responded, “I did check with both my kids. They read parts of Moby Dick, but did not read the entire book.â€
Another responded, “My son is a 2003 graduate of Taconic High School. While he was a student there ‘Moby Bick’ was required reading for one of his English courses. And the course was not advanced placement English. I share your high regard for ‘Moby Dick’ as a literary work. But the supreme status you accord it -- the greatest novel written in English -- is not self-evidently warranted. Partisans of ‘Ulysses,’ as well as a few other novels -- ‘Middlemarch,’ perhaps, possibly ‘The Sound & the Fury,’ and even ‘The Golden Bowl,’ which, if it is not the greatest language-language novel, is likely the most perfect -- could with justification challenge your characterization.â€
In response to this I would certainly say that a great case could be made that Moby Dick is the “Great American Novel,†although I would say that a close runner up is Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Wikipedia has a good article on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Novel
While obviously, we could forever debate just what was “The Great American Novel,†I think Moby Dick makes the shortlist. That said, unlike Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), the book was not popular until after the author’s death and in fact Melville had to give up writing. (Both appear to have gone on the lecture circuit, which was once a way to significantly raise money. Twain was almost as legendary for his oral skills as his written ones.)
HERE IS THE LATEST FROM THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE:
'Moby-Dick': A state classic?
Squash, Guthrie's syrup among other bills filed
By Matt Murphy, Eagle Boston Bureau
Wednesday, February 07
BOSTON — Herman Melville's classic "Moby-Dick" may soon be required reading for anyone who wants to call themselves a true Bay Stater.
And while you're reading that whale tale, perhaps you can snack on a roll of Necco Assorted Wafers, made right in Revere.
Both could soon become official emblems of the state of Massachusetts along with squash, the necktie and Guthrie's Battleground syrup, made by folk singer Arlo Guthrie at his Washington home in the Berkshires.
Of the 6,262 new bills filed this year by state legislators tackling serious issues from gambling to sex offenders, at least a dozen are, shall we say, of the lighter fare variety.
And who could argue against the squash as the official state vegetable? Though these might seem like a silly waste of time for elected politicians working on the taxpayers' dime, some legislators say they are just doing it for the children.
In fact, many of the bills were filed simply to give local school children a chance to watch the legislative process in action.
State Rep. Christopher Speranzo, D-Pittsfield, filed the bill to make "Moby-Dick" the official book of the commonwealth after visiting a fifth-grade civics class at the Egremont Elementary School in Pittsfield.
Melville wrote the American literary classic at his Arrowhead home in Pittsfield. The bill is co-sponsored by all 86 fifth-grade students and teachers at the school.
"I'm hopeful to have them come down for the hearing and let them follow the committee process. I can think of no better way to explain the legislative process and teach them about civics than this," Speranzo said.
Similar bills filed as part of a class project include one from state Rep. Barbara L'Italien, D-Andover, to make the necktie the state's official men's accessory.
State Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, is working with the Taunton Catholic Middle School to make the Cape Cod quahog Massachusetts' official shellfish.
"I don't think enough government is being taught in our public schools. These aren't just frivolous bills, and I don't think they bog the process down at all," said state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
Pignatelli filed a bill to make Guthrie's Battleground syrup, tapped by Guthrie himself, the state's official maple syrup.
Guthrie has been an ardent supporter of Pignatelli in the past, and the Guthrie Center has done a lot to promote culture and the arts within his district, Pignatelli said.
"I will guarantee you this will be the sweetest bill to ever pass in the Statehouse," he said.
David Guarino, spokesman for House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, said all bills are treated equally and will be forwarded to committees for full hearings over the course of the next session.
As one of his last acts of office, former Gov. Mitt Romney signed a slew of last-minute bills including one naming the garter snake the state's official snake.
Other curious legislation that could find its way into law this year include bills prohibiting the use of chain-link basketball nets, swearing by police officers and the possession or sale of spray paint to a minor.
One legislator wants godparents to have their own holiday, right alongside mothers and fathers. And another seeks to create a commission to study the heritage of the cranberry.
These bills won't solve poverty or fix health care. But this is still government at work.
RINALDO’S COMMENTS: I think it is perfectly appropriate to recognize Moby Dick work for the greatness that it is. And while there are certainly other great Massachusetts writers (Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edith Warton (Lenox, MA) immediately come to mind as eminent novelist, both who had spent some time in Berkshire County). Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Women,†(Orchard House, Concord, MA) comes in at a distance, as does Jack Kerouac of the Beatnick movement (Lowell, MA). That said, none have written a single novel that comes near in greatness to Moby Dick.
OTHER GREAT MASSACHUSETTS AUTHORS THAT NEVER WROTE A NOVEL: (Henry David Thoreau [transcendentalist philosopher] [Concord], Emerson [poet, transcendentalist philosopher] [Concord], Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. [Cambridge/Pittsfield], Emily Dickinson [poet] [Amherst], Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [Cambridge/Pittsfield], were all great writers from Massachusetts, but not novelist. I have left out authors of the numerous famous political tracts from Massachusetts.]
http://www.finetravel.com/unitedstates/northeast/mass.htm
Just some thoughts on race and Moby Dick.
Ironically, though completely different in substance and style, there are similarities. Moby Dick and Huckleberry Finn put aside what were then traditional notions of race, ironically, while traveling bodies of the water and all the symbolism that that represents. In Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim (the slave) put aside pre-civil war notions of race relations, and as they travel down the river, Jim becomes more of a father figure and a man. The same can be said for a whaling ship, where unlike nearly ever other institution of its day, race distinctions were not recognized. (I have never studied this subject, but there is a book, “Black Hands, White Sails,†by Patrick and Frederick McKissack, on this very subject.)
(http://www.amazon.ca/Black-Hands-White-Patricia-McKissack/dp/0590483137)
In Moby Dick:
Star Buck, the first mate, is a Quaker. As described in wikipedia, “Queequeg is a savage cannibal from a fictional island in the South Seas. The son of the chief of his tribe, he befriends Ishmael in New Bedford, Massachusetts before they leave port. Queequeg is a skilled harpooner on Starbuck's boat. He exhibits both civilized and savage behavior.
Tashtego is described as a savage, a Native American harpooner. The personification of the hunter, he has turned from hunting land animals to hunting whales. Tashtego is the harpooner on Stubb's harpoon boat.
Daggoo is a gigantic savage African harpooner with a noble bearing and grace, on Flask's harpoon boat.
Fedallah is the harpooner on Ahab's own boat. He is of Indian Zoroastrian ("Parsi") descent. Due to descriptions of him having lived in China, he probably might be among the great wave of Parsi traders that made their way to Hong Kong and the far east during the mid 19th century.
According to a Herald Story, “According to the book, black slaves manned whaling ships as early as 1640. By the 1850s, tolerant Quakers who ran many whaling ships were employing free black sailors.†http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-59215748.html
While I am certainly no literary scholar, there appears to be a striking similar where there is a racial equality on the open waters in both Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick, with infinitely greater degrees of colorblindness than on the land. Huckleberry looks to Jim almost as a father figure. Ishmael looks to his non-white companions as mates and co-patriots, and speaks of them in the highest regard. In both novels, race relations are borne out of mutual need, mutual respect, and mutual admiration. It was axiomatic that “…southern whalers, and others with an aversion to living and working with black sailors "...soon learned that when hurricane winds were blowing or their boat was attached to the end of a raging bull sperm whale, it didn't matter what color the hands were that handled the sails or pulled the oars. The rules were clear. All men had to work together if they were to survive. This reality is what earned blacks respect, or at lease they were tolerated, even though they were not always accepted". P.16 of Uncorrected Proof. http://web.coehs.siu.edu/public/jaacl/bkreview3.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn
Perhaps one of academics that I have sent this to could write an article, “Freedom on the Waters: A Study of Race Relations in Moby Dick and Huckleberry Finn.â€
The wikipedia article on Moby Dick reads, “Although the book initially received mostly negative reviews, Moby-Dick is now considered to be one of the greatest novels in the English language, and has secured Melville's reputation in the first rank of American writers.â€
Monday, January 15, 2007
WHY ISN’T MOBY DICK REQUIRED READING FOR PITTSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS?
Q. What book, if any, could be called, “The Great American Novel�
A. Why it’s Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, written in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Q. What work of fiction would be considered the greatest written in the English language?
A. Why it’s Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, written in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Q. What book, if any, was not required reading when I went to Pittsfield High School and is not to this day (and may never have been)?
A. Why it’s Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, written in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the greatest work of fiction in the English language, and thee Great American Novel. (send me an e-mail if I am wrong on Moby Dick not being required reading—but I think I probably will be correct).
In fact, I have never met a person that when to a Berkshire County based school and was required to read it. If you asked almost all Pittsfield High School students where did the line “Call me Ishmael†come from, most would have no idea.
There are a number of reasons for why Moby Dick is not required reading in Berkshire Schools, of which the following are most probable:
An excessive obsession with Shakespeare, as if he was the only writer worth reading, leaving little time for other authors.
The books length—it is a tome. Teachers feel they are not accomplishing anything if there are not books that can be read in a week. This book might rightly take one of the two semesters to read, and nobody wants to devout the time—when I was at PHS, we read Billy Budd just to say we read something by Melville.
There are a lot of “big words†that turn off today’s student.
The symbolism and allegory is somewhat difficult, and allegorical literary thought is becoming somewhat out of style as a literary device in the general population—people want more of an immediate understanding of what is happening. With the already difficult task of turning students onto reading, difficult prose is out, “The Catcher in the Rye†and Mark Twain is in. (“The Catcher in the Rye†actually was one of my favorites when I was young.)
The philosophical sentiments expressed in Moby Dick seems to be beyond the modern student. Take for instance the following quote, “Truely to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more.†It is hard to imagine the PHS student I see drifting into Burger King seriously pondering such difficult reading—there are no difficult words in this passage, but there are somewhat difficult thoughts. It is hard to imagine a PHS student seeing that, in much the same way there is an answer as to why an ominipotent God allows evil in the world, we need discomfort in order to understand the blessings of comfort. Hopefully I am underestimating today’s student, but I suspect I do not.
The history of Moby Dick is in itself of great interest. The fact that it is not read in high school by even those in Pittsfield where it was written—though it is the “Great American Novel†says much. Many questions arise:
The book initially obtained many bad reviews—is Moby Dick actually a bad read exalted only by intellectuals?
Are the long technical descriptions of whaling no longer of interest to the modern reader?
Are long books, in today’s information packed society, a thing of the past?
Were the initial critics and the original lack luster sales an indication of a greater truth—Is Moby Dick just a bad read for average folks that was given an ill-deserved revival by early 20th century scholars and rightfully should not be read by high school student lest they be turned off from reading?
Put another way, are the reasons that Moby Dick was such a “box office†flop during Melville’s lifetime the same reason it isn’t being read today by Pittsfield High School students?
Most importantly, WHY ISN’T THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVEL EVER WRITTEN REQUIRED READING IN THE VERY SMALL CITY IN WHICH IT WAS WRITTEN?
I ask this as a serious question, not a rhetorical one. There may be some damn good reasons that high school students shouldn’t be required to read Moby Dick, and I am all ears. Yet surely one can understand the questioning of not having Pittsfield, Massachusetts students not read the greatest American novel ever written when it was written in their home city.
Below is story by Tony Dowlbrowski of the Berkshire Eagle about a Truman Capote novel “In Cold Blood†will be required reading for 10th Grade Honors and 11th Grade Standard. Why “In Cold Blood†and not Moby Dick?
I must confess, I have only “read†Moby Dick as a book-on-tape, while driving. But though Moby Dick was “rediscovered†in the 20th Century, it was not a best seller during Melville’s lifetime. And while Melville enjoyed moderate success as a writer, he ultimately could not sustain himself by that profession. Melville wrote at Arrowhead for 13 years, but spent the last 20 years of his life working as an inspector for the New York Custom’s House. In fact, some people actually attributed Melville’s decline in popularity to Moby Dick itself. Ironically, I read Billy Budd at PHS, a work published postumusly 33 years after Melville’s death in 1924 (Melville died in 1891)—it is not sure that Melville ever wanted it published, and the practice of going through manuscripts and piecing together novels is highly controversial—posthumous works of Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe.
Melville died in 1891. He wrote Moby Dick in 1851. Except for some works of poetry, which is capable of being written while working another job, Melville’s writing life ended shortly after Moby Dick. In fact, the work “Pierre,†published shortly after Melville’s Moby Dick was so thoroughly panned I am tempted to read it to see if it was really that bad. Wikipedia says of Pierre, “Other Melvillians, however, have found in Pierre a dark masterpiece that repays multiple re-readings by unfolding unexpected moral and philosophical depths.†Is a book—especially a long book—that requires “multiple re-readings†for “unexpected moral and philosophical depths’ worth the read? While that was a description of Pierre, it could also be a description of Moby Dick.
If Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) had written in Pittsfield, I suspect that we would read everyone of his books. I am reading the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbons, as difficult a read as he is, I don’t have to read passages over and over again for deep meanings that reveal their truth on the third read—is this asking to much of a reader?
By the way, if Moby Dick is required reading at PHS or THS, please e-mail me back and let me know—I doubt that is the case. Any insight on why Moby Dick isn’t required reading would also be appreciated.
IDEA FOR A STORY: I have an idea for a story for anyone in the media interested—interview the principles of PHS and THS and St. Joeseph’s, the English department heads, and the English teachers themselves, and ask WHY isn’t Moby Dick required reading in Pittsfield? Contact the folks at Arrowhead and Mellville.org (you should read the panning of the critics—the critics of that era were perhaps more egotistical, if that is possible, than the critics of today) about the novels import. The story should not just be about Moby Dick—the story should be about the books import vis-à -vis its not being required reading in Pittsfield High Schools.
FOR CRITICISMS OF THE BOOK, GO HERE: http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm#Contemporary
I have sent this e-mail to many Melville Scholars from around the country, English teachers at Pittsfield High School and Taconic High School, as well as the Pittsfield school committee.
I have taken the liberty of blind carbon copying the press.
Is there a good reason why Herman Melville’s Moby Dick isn’t required reading at Pittsfield’s two high schools?
Moby Dick Should be The Official Novel of Massachusetts
As can be seen from my January 15, 2007 letter, I had made inquiry why Moby Dick was not required reading in Pittsfield anymore. I sent my e-mail to the Superintendent of Pittsfield Schools, the Pittsfield School Committee, the high school English teachers a Taconic and Pittsfield high school, and a number of people that were Moby Dick scholars throughout the country. My premise was that Moby Dick should be required reading for Pittsfield High School students. The story was prompted by the purchase of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood†by the Pittsfield School Committee.
The response was varied. No academic scholar—one’s by the way that devoted a significant part of their academic study of Moby Dick—decided to respond to the e-mail.
On school committee member responded, “As you can see from the Eagle article, you are preaching to the converted. I have absolutely no idea why In Cold Blood should be included in the required reading for high school.†Another teacher responded, “Who are you.†One person responded, “I did check with both my kids. They read parts of Moby Dick, but did not read the entire book.â€
Another responded, “My son is a 2003 graduate of Taconic High School. While he was a student there ‘Moby Bick’ was required reading for one of his English courses. And the course was not advanced placement English. I share your high regard for ‘Moby Dick’ as a literary work. But the supreme status you accord it -- the greatest novel written in English -- is not self-evidently warranted. Partisans of ‘Ulysses,’ as well as a few other novels -- ‘Middlemarch,’ perhaps, possibly ‘The Sound & the Fury,’ and even ‘The Golden Bowl,’ which, if it is not the greatest language-language novel, is likely the most perfect -- could with justification challenge your characterization.â€
In response to this I would certainly say that a great case could be made that Moby Dick is the “Great American Novel,†although I would say that a close runner up is Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Wikipedia has a good article on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Novel
While obviously, we could forever debate just what was “The Great American Novel,†I think Moby Dick makes the shortlist. That said, unlike Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), the book was not popular until after the author’s death and in fact Melville had to give up writing. (Both appear to have gone on the lecture circuit, which was once a way to significantly raise money. Twain was almost as legendary for his oral skills as his written ones.)
HERE IS THE LATEST FROM THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE:
'Moby-Dick': A state classic?
Squash, Guthrie's syrup among other bills filed
By Matt Murphy, Eagle Boston Bureau
Wednesday, February 07
BOSTON — Herman Melville's classic "Moby-Dick" may soon be required reading for anyone who wants to call themselves a true Bay Stater.
And while you're reading that whale tale, perhaps you can snack on a roll of Necco Assorted Wafers, made right in Revere.
Both could soon become official emblems of the state of Massachusetts along with squash, the necktie and Guthrie's Battleground syrup, made by folk singer Arlo Guthrie at his Washington home in the Berkshires.
Of the 6,262 new bills filed this year by state legislators tackling serious issues from gambling to sex offenders, at least a dozen are, shall we say, of the lighter fare variety.
And who could argue against the squash as the official state vegetable? Though these might seem like a silly waste of time for elected politicians working on the taxpayers' dime, some legislators say they are just doing it for the children.
In fact, many of the bills were filed simply to give local school children a chance to watch the legislative process in action.
State Rep. Christopher Speranzo, D-Pittsfield, filed the bill to make "Moby-Dick" the official book of the commonwealth after visiting a fifth-grade civics class at the Egremont Elementary School in Pittsfield.
Melville wrote the American literary classic at his Arrowhead home in Pittsfield. The bill is co-sponsored by all 86 fifth-grade students and teachers at the school.
"I'm hopeful to have them come down for the hearing and let them follow the committee process. I can think of no better way to explain the legislative process and teach them about civics than this," Speranzo said.
Similar bills filed as part of a class project include one from state Rep. Barbara L'Italien, D-Andover, to make the necktie the state's official men's accessory.
State Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, is working with the Taunton Catholic Middle School to make the Cape Cod quahog Massachusetts' official shellfish.
"I don't think enough government is being taught in our public schools. These aren't just frivolous bills, and I don't think they bog the process down at all," said state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
Pignatelli filed a bill to make Guthrie's Battleground syrup, tapped by Guthrie himself, the state's official maple syrup.
Guthrie has been an ardent supporter of Pignatelli in the past, and the Guthrie Center has done a lot to promote culture and the arts within his district, Pignatelli said.
"I will guarantee you this will be the sweetest bill to ever pass in the Statehouse," he said.
David Guarino, spokesman for House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, said all bills are treated equally and will be forwarded to committees for full hearings over the course of the next session.
As one of his last acts of office, former Gov. Mitt Romney signed a slew of last-minute bills including one naming the garter snake the state's official snake.
Other curious legislation that could find its way into law this year include bills prohibiting the use of chain-link basketball nets, swearing by police officers and the possession or sale of spray paint to a minor.
One legislator wants godparents to have their own holiday, right alongside mothers and fathers. And another seeks to create a commission to study the heritage of the cranberry.
These bills won't solve poverty or fix health care. But this is still government at work.
RINALDO’S COMMENTS: I think it is perfectly appropriate to recognize Moby Dick work for the greatness that it is. And while there are certainly other great Massachusetts writers (Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edith Warton (Lenox, MA) immediately come to mind as eminent novelist, both who had spent some time in Berkshire County). Louisa May Alcott, author of “Little Women,†(Orchard House, Concord, MA) comes in at a distance, as does Jack Kerouac of the Beatnick movement (Lowell, MA). That said, none have written a single novel that comes near in greatness to Moby Dick.
OTHER GREAT MASSACHUSETTS AUTHORS THAT NEVER WROTE A NOVEL: (Henry David Thoreau [transcendentalist philosopher] [Concord], Emerson [poet, transcendentalist philosopher] [Concord], Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. [Cambridge/Pittsfield], Emily Dickinson [poet] [Amherst], Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [Cambridge/Pittsfield], were all great writers from Massachusetts, but not novelist. I have left out authors of the numerous famous political tracts from Massachusetts.]
http://www.finetravel.com/unitedstates/northeast/mass.htm
Just some thoughts on race and Moby Dick.
Ironically, though completely different in substance and style, there are similarities. Moby Dick and Huckleberry Finn put aside what were then traditional notions of race, ironically, while traveling bodies of the water and all the symbolism that that represents. In Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim (the slave) put aside pre-civil war notions of race relations, and as they travel down the river, Jim becomes more of a father figure and a man. The same can be said for a whaling ship, where unlike nearly ever other institution of its day, race distinctions were not recognized. (I have never studied this subject, but there is a book, “Black Hands, White Sails,†by Patrick and Frederick McKissack, on this very subject.)
(http://www.amazon.ca/Black-Hands-White-Patricia-McKissack/dp/0590483137)
In Moby Dick:
Star Buck, the first mate, is a Quaker. As described in wikipedia, “Queequeg is a savage cannibal from a fictional island in the South Seas. The son of the chief of his tribe, he befriends Ishmael in New Bedford, Massachusetts before they leave port. Queequeg is a skilled harpooner on Starbuck's boat. He exhibits both civilized and savage behavior.
Tashtego is described as a savage, a Native American harpooner. The personification of the hunter, he has turned from hunting land animals to hunting whales. Tashtego is the harpooner on Stubb's harpoon boat.
Daggoo is a gigantic savage African harpooner with a noble bearing and grace, on Flask's harpoon boat.
Fedallah is the harpooner on Ahab's own boat. He is of Indian Zoroastrian ("Parsi") descent. Due to descriptions of him having lived in China, he probably might be among the great wave of Parsi traders that made their way to Hong Kong and the far east during the mid 19th century.
According to a Herald Story, “According to the book, black slaves manned whaling ships as early as 1640. By the 1850s, tolerant Quakers who ran many whaling ships were employing free black sailors.†http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-59215748.html
While I am certainly no literary scholar, there appears to be a striking similar where there is a racial equality on the open waters in both Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick, with infinitely greater degrees of colorblindness than on the land. Huckleberry looks to Jim almost as a father figure. Ishmael looks to his non-white companions as mates and co-patriots, and speaks of them in the highest regard. In both novels, race relations are borne out of mutual need, mutual respect, and mutual admiration. It was axiomatic that “…southern whalers, and others with an aversion to living and working with black sailors "...soon learned that when hurricane winds were blowing or their boat was attached to the end of a raging bull sperm whale, it didn't matter what color the hands were that handled the sails or pulled the oars. The rules were clear. All men had to work together if they were to survive. This reality is what earned blacks respect, or at lease they were tolerated, even though they were not always accepted". P.16 of Uncorrected Proof. http://web.coehs.siu.edu/public/jaacl/bkreview3.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Huckleberry_Finn
Perhaps one of academics that I have sent this to could write an article, “Freedom on the Waters: A Study of Race Relations in Moby Dick and Huckleberry Finn.â€
The wikipedia article on Moby Dick reads, “Although the book initially received mostly negative reviews, Moby-Dick is now considered to be one of the greatest novels in the English language, and has secured Melville's reputation in the first rank of American writers.â€
Monday, January 15, 2007
WHY ISN’T MOBY DICK REQUIRED READING FOR PITTSFIELD HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS?
Q. What book, if any, could be called, “The Great American Novel�
A. Why it’s Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, written in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Q. What work of fiction would be considered the greatest written in the English language?
A. Why it’s Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, written in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Q. What book, if any, was not required reading when I went to Pittsfield High School and is not to this day (and may never have been)?
A. Why it’s Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, written in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the greatest work of fiction in the English language, and thee Great American Novel. (send me an e-mail if I am wrong on Moby Dick not being required reading—but I think I probably will be correct).
In fact, I have never met a person that when to a Berkshire County based school and was required to read it. If you asked almost all Pittsfield High School students where did the line “Call me Ishmael†come from, most would have no idea.
There are a number of reasons for why Moby Dick is not required reading in Berkshire Schools, of which the following are most probable:
An excessive obsession with Shakespeare, as if he was the only writer worth reading, leaving little time for other authors.
The books length—it is a tome. Teachers feel they are not accomplishing anything if there are not books that can be read in a week. This book might rightly take one of the two semesters to read, and nobody wants to devout the time—when I was at PHS, we read Billy Budd just to say we read something by Melville.
There are a lot of “big words†that turn off today’s student.
The symbolism and allegory is somewhat difficult, and allegorical literary thought is becoming somewhat out of style as a literary device in the general population—people want more of an immediate understanding of what is happening. With the already difficult task of turning students onto reading, difficult prose is out, “The Catcher in the Rye†and Mark Twain is in. (“The Catcher in the Rye†actually was one of my favorites when I was young.)
The philosophical sentiments expressed in Moby Dick seems to be beyond the modern student. Take for instance the following quote, “Truely to enjoy bodily warmth, some small part of you must must be cold, for there is no quality in this world that that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself. If you flatter yourself that you are all over comfortable, and have been so a long time, then you cannot be said to be comfortable any more.†It is hard to imagine the PHS student I see drifting into Burger King seriously pondering such difficult reading—there are no difficult words in this passage, but there are somewhat difficult thoughts. It is hard to imagine a PHS student seeing that, in much the same way there is an answer as to why an ominipotent God allows evil in the world, we need discomfort in order to understand the blessings of comfort. Hopefully I am underestimating today’s student, but I suspect I do not.
The history of Moby Dick is in itself of great interest. The fact that it is not read in high school by even those in Pittsfield where it was written—though it is the “Great American Novel†says much. Many questions arise:
The book initially obtained many bad reviews—is Moby Dick actually a bad read exalted only by intellectuals?
Are the long technical descriptions of whaling no longer of interest to the modern reader?
Are long books, in today’s information packed society, a thing of the past?
Were the initial critics and the original lack luster sales an indication of a greater truth—Is Moby Dick just a bad read for average folks that was given an ill-deserved revival by early 20th century scholars and rightfully should not be read by high school student lest they be turned off from reading?
Put another way, are the reasons that Moby Dick was such a “box office†flop during Melville’s lifetime the same reason it isn’t being read today by Pittsfield High School students?
Most importantly, WHY ISN’T THE GREATEST AMERICAN NOVEL EVER WRITTEN REQUIRED READING IN THE VERY SMALL CITY IN WHICH IT WAS WRITTEN?
I ask this as a serious question, not a rhetorical one. There may be some damn good reasons that high school students shouldn’t be required to read Moby Dick, and I am all ears. Yet surely one can understand the questioning of not having Pittsfield, Massachusetts students not read the greatest American novel ever written when it was written in their home city.
Below is story by Tony Dowlbrowski of the Berkshire Eagle about a Truman Capote novel “In Cold Blood†will be required reading for 10th Grade Honors and 11th Grade Standard. Why “In Cold Blood†and not Moby Dick?
I must confess, I have only “read†Moby Dick as a book-on-tape, while driving. But though Moby Dick was “rediscovered†in the 20th Century, it was not a best seller during Melville’s lifetime. And while Melville enjoyed moderate success as a writer, he ultimately could not sustain himself by that profession. Melville wrote at Arrowhead for 13 years, but spent the last 20 years of his life working as an inspector for the New York Custom’s House. In fact, some people actually attributed Melville’s decline in popularity to Moby Dick itself. Ironically, I read Billy Budd at PHS, a work published postumusly 33 years after Melville’s death in 1924 (Melville died in 1891)—it is not sure that Melville ever wanted it published, and the practice of going through manuscripts and piecing together novels is highly controversial—posthumous works of Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe.
Melville died in 1891. He wrote Moby Dick in 1851. Except for some works of poetry, which is capable of being written while working another job, Melville’s writing life ended shortly after Moby Dick. In fact, the work “Pierre,†published shortly after Melville’s Moby Dick was so thoroughly panned I am tempted to read it to see if it was really that bad. Wikipedia says of Pierre, “Other Melvillians, however, have found in Pierre a dark masterpiece that repays multiple re-readings by unfolding unexpected moral and philosophical depths.†Is a book—especially a long book—that requires “multiple re-readings†for “unexpected moral and philosophical depths’ worth the read? While that was a description of Pierre, it could also be a description of Moby Dick.
If Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) had written in Pittsfield, I suspect that we would read everyone of his books. I am reading the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbons, as difficult a read as he is, I don’t have to read passages over and over again for deep meanings that reveal their truth on the third read—is this asking to much of a reader?
By the way, if Moby Dick is required reading at PHS or THS, please e-mail me back and let me know—I doubt that is the case. Any insight on why Moby Dick isn’t required reading would also be appreciated.
IDEA FOR A STORY: I have an idea for a story for anyone in the media interested—interview the principles of PHS and THS and St. Joeseph’s, the English department heads, and the English teachers themselves, and ask WHY isn’t Moby Dick required reading in Pittsfield? Contact the folks at Arrowhead and Mellville.org (you should read the panning of the critics—the critics of that era were perhaps more egotistical, if that is possible, than the critics of today) about the novels import. The story should not just be about Moby Dick—the story should be about the books import vis-à -vis its not being required reading in Pittsfield High Schools.
FOR CRITICISMS OF THE BOOK, GO HERE: http://www.melville.org/hmmoby.htm#Contemporary
I have sent this e-mail to many Melville Scholars from around the country, English teachers at Pittsfield High School and Taconic High School, as well as the Pittsfield school committee.
I have taken the liberty of blind carbon copying the press.
Is there a good reason why Herman Melville’s Moby Dick isn’t required reading at Pittsfield’s two high schools?
