Herman Mellville And Darwins Writings On The Galapagos Islands

During the nineteenth century, two prominent writers, Herman Mellville

and Charles Darwin both voyaged to the Galapagos islands off the coast of

Ecuador. Both of these individuals wrote descriptive passages about the

physical attributes and atmosphere of the Galapagos Islands. The passages vary

in specific content due to the intentions and interests of the respective

authors, even though the object described is the same. Charles Darwin, best

known for the theory of evolution, wrote for the purpose of science; Herman

Mellville, best known for Moby Dick, for the purpose of entertainment. The

audience intended, the tone of the author, and the terms used in description-

these all vary between the two passages. These passages exemplify that a single

subject, under varying conditions, can be seen and portrayed using differing

style and rhetoric.

Mellville's passage uses allusions, analogies, and comparisons to well-

known entities to better illustrate the Galapagos Islands to the common reader.

Mellville assumes that the reader is unfamiliar with the Galapagos islands, or

"Encantadas," as he chooses to refer to them as and paints a picture of the

Galapagos Islands using everyday terms. An important part of Mellville's style

is that the he never directly describes the islands. "Take five-and-twenty heaps

of cinders dumped here and there in an outside city lot" is how Mellville's

description of the Galapagos Islands begins. This reduces the Galapagos islands

from a large, nearly inconceivable place to objects of which most any reader

can create a mental picture. When Mellville describes the flora of the

Galapagos Islands, he compares it with drying "Syrian gourds," aching for water.

Mellville discusses the solitude of the Galapagos Islands in comparison with

Greenland, a familiar place of solitude, the clear water in terms of Lake Erie,

and the "azure ice" in terms of malachite. “They know not autumn” writes

Mellville, as if these “heaps of cinder” are conscious of anything at all. All

these segments of Mellvilles passage are illustrations of how Mellville creates

a personal relationship between the Island and the reader.

Darwin uses scientific and specific words, gearing the passage for a

highly specialized audience. He centers his writing around the vegetation and

related matters; rarely straying from direct description or using comparisons.

Darwin in one of his few comparisons, relates the vegetation of the Galapagos

Islands with that of "the volcanic island of Fernando de Noronha," unheard of by

all, except the most worldly. This shows that Darwin makes no investment in

the creation of an image in the minds of the common reader. Darwin writes of a

specific island, Chatham Island, and replaces Mellville's heaps of cinders with