Melville's White Jacket as Public Forum on Corporal Punishment

Melville's White Jacket as Public Forum on Corporal Punishment

Author, Herman Melville utilized many of his literary works as a public forum for politics. Subsequently, the nineteenth century became a time period of great outspokenness among authors who condemned many of societies woes. Authors such as: Thoreau, Longfellow and Emerson all voiced their opposition to these tragedies. Melville wrote openly about slavery, abuse, and many other social injustices. In his novel, White Jacket, Melville wrote against corporal punishment aboard United States Naval Frigates. He cited many instances of flogging, imprisoning sailors, and other humiliating procedures endured by navy men at the hands of commanding officers. Unfortunately, corporal punishment was a legal means of punishment as governed by the Articles of War.

Melville interjected a positive feeling into the narrative, White Jacket, by introducing three humanitarians. These included: Mad Jack, Colbrook, and Jack Chase. Each of these characters spoke out against corporal punishment in the narrative; however, the ultimate decision to punish the men remained in the hands of the unforgiving captains at sea. The main character of the novel occurred as White Jacket. Unfortunately, he committed an unwitting offense and was to be subjected to flogging. In his frantic last moments prior to flogging, White Jacket envisioned himself grabbing Captain Claret and flinging them both over the side to the more forgiving sea. Fortunately, humanitarians, Colbrook and Chase, both stepped forward at great risk to themselves and saved White Jacket from humiliation and abuse. White Jacket's desperate attempt to elude punishment conveyed to society the drastic measures needed to induce change. In the end, it remained obvious that Melville likened the ship to a working model of society. He observed that naval discipline was not compatible with democratic ideology. Author Eleanor Simpson stated in her essay, "Melville and the Negro," that Melville attacks all forms of arbitrary government and legalized brutality. Though his immediate target is the military machine as codified in the Articles of War, his whole stance is one of democratic rebellion against the law or act of government, which undermines or simply ignores the dignity and rights of men.

Melville stated, "He knows the same law which impels it-the same law by which the culprits of the day must suffer; that by that very law he also is liable at any time to be judged and condemned.