Comparing Hawthorne's and Melville's Works

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Similarities in Hawthorne's and Melville's Works Insanity can be a dark descent into the strange, nightmarish unknown realms of the mind unable to return to the known world of reason. This is a major theme in literature, and is particularly evident in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. The nightmarish undertones are one of the main similarities in Hawthorne's and Melville's works. Another similarity is writing style. Both men write very descriptively, and their writing is based more in intellect than emotion. Also both men write about the nightmarish descent into madness. Herman Melville's Moby Dick is an excellent example of this descent into madness. Through his narrative Melville reveals Ahab's insanity. In fact Ahab himself says, "but I'm demoniac, I am madness maddened (Melville, 166)!" This is said in response to the fact that the crew, especially Starbuck, think he's mad. As the story goes on the depths of Ahab's madness are revealed when Melville describes how Ahab's mind is continually wrapped around this thought of revenge. In a ruthless never-ending cycle that he cannot escape even in sleep, so that his "thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feed upon the heart for ever; that vulture the very creature he creates (Melville, 200)." Thus he illustrates the downward, continuous, spiral of insanity and how madness feeds upon itself. This is also illustrated by the whirlpool that sucks the Pequod and her crew down into the depths of the ocean(Melville, 566). One of the Hawthorne's best examples of the descent into madness (or at least a form of it) is... ... middle of paper ... ...e uses throughout this story gives it a strange, dreamlike quality, which is very appropriate for the dark tone of the story. These two authors are very similar. Both use dark, surrealistic language. Both men show different aspects of the descent into madness. Also both men use a descriptive, intelligent writing style. Instead of appealing to your emotions, or telling you what you should be feeling, they describe what is happening. Their descriptions may induce certain emotions, such as disgust, fear, or sadness, but they appeal first to the mind. They appeal first to the mind, and when the mind dictates to the heart that this is wrong, or strange, then the heart stirs and provides the appropriate emotion. Their writing styles may have their differences, but on the whole they are more alike than they are different.

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