Author James A. Michener once said, “I have often been mildly amused when I think that the great American novel was not written about New England or Chicago. It was written about a white whale in the South Pacific…” (Michener). American literature started with a single book, titled Moby Dick. This book existentially began the genre of literature that gets labeled “American”. Everything in history has the ability to change with one event taking place, and for American lit’s sake, Moby Dick being created was that event. Ever since “MD” got published, American lit standards have been based off of that book. In Moby Dick, one of the major themes in the book is Honor, a theme of which that is contained in the many dominant themes of American literature. …show more content…
As a country, Freedom exists as a value that represents American literature and the way Americans live. To begin, during the Dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument speech, Daniel Webster proudly exclaims, “And by the blessing of God may that country itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of wisdom, of peace, and of liberty, upon which the world may gaze with admiration forever” (Webster). Webster proclaims about how Americans live in a country that expresses various values along the lines of liberty, freedom, and peace. These values exist as key descriptions of the way Americans live in the culture. Also, Webster does a great job of describing what America does not represent, and what America really stands for. Following the passage in Webster’s address, in Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address, he reminisced about his time at war telling the audience, …show more content…
Three of the strongest themes are freedom, honor, and hard work. In American literature, each of these are some of the strongest and most apparent themes in most pieces of text. At the end of the day, if these values were non-existent in American literature, the literature and the themes of the writing would not be the same. These themes are some of the values that shape not only American literature, but the American lifestyle as
These three major themes which were appearance vs reality, the importance of free thought, and man vs. society were revealed throughout the book in many different scenes, and through many different characters. These major themes gave us a better understanding of the book and the characters of the book, and what some of them wanted to achieve.
On the first day the man on watch was sniffing the air and he declared that the whale must be near and Captain Ahab was frantic with excitement, constantly changing their course slightly during the day. Finally they spotted the white whale, and they left the ship into a small boat to hunt him. Moby Dick then wrecked their boat, but luckily nobody died.
The definition of theme in the dictionary is, a subject of discourse, discussion, meditation, or composition; topic. There are numerous works of poetry with a wide variety of themes. This paper will discuss the themes of three poems written by a young lady brought to this country as a slave, and whom left as a free woman. Phillis Wheatley uses eloquent, religious, and themes of freedom in her poems.
An idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art of literature can be referred to as a “Theme”. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly. Theme is an important part of fictional stories. Several themes are presented in the novel to kill a mocking bird. One of the reoccurring themes in to kill a mockingbird is courage.
“Ishmael’s discourse is often calculated to undercut the myth of white supremacy, asserting that society’s survival may ultimately depend on the acceptance of Ishmael’s democratic vision (seeing equality in diversity) and a rejection of Ahab’s tyrannical one (seeing only white).”
Abraham Lincoln’s speech, The Gettysburg Address, Mitchell’s opinion essay Peace isn’t Impossible, and the visual, A Man Knows a Man, share a common theme, which is commonly referred to as a universal theme. The themes expressed in these three texts are directly stated, making the author’s message more clearly to readers. The various structures of texts greatly affect the delivery of the theme, due to their having different parameters and goals. Poems, for example, have different kinds of literary devices, such as imagery and figurative language, which help readers explore the theme...
In 1820 in the Edinburgh Review Sidney Smith said: “In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book?” (par. 4). That was the conventional idea concerning American Literature to the conservative British writers. But Melville proved this assumption of the British writers wrong not by arguing with them but by producing a huge work which in its quality is comparable to Shakespearean great tragedies.
At first glance, Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, appears to be the story of a man, his captain, and the whale that they quest to destroy. But a closer look reveals the author’s intense look at several metaphysical ideologies. He explores some of the most ponderous quandaries of his time, among these being the existence of evil, knowledge of the self and the existential, and the possibility of a determined fate. All of these were questions which philosophers had dealt with and written about, but Melville took it to a new level: not only writing about these things, but also doing so in a lovely poetic language backed by a tale packed with intrigue. He explores the general existence of evil in his antagonist, the white whale, and through the general malice that nature presents to humans throughout the novel. The narrator, Ishmael, gains a lot of knowledge about himself through his experiences on the whaling voyage, where he also is able to learn much about the phenomenon of existence itself. Also, through Captain Ahab, he sees more about the existence of man and the things that exist within man’s heart. Especially through Ahab and his ongoing quest for the white whale, and also in general conversation amongst the whalers, the issue of fate and whether one’s destiny is predetermined are addressed in great detail, with much thought and insight interpolated from the author’s own viewpoints on the subject.
themes of freedom and restraint, of liberty and slavery, science and myth, knowledge and ignorance. Individual choice
There are many themes that occur and can be interpreted differently throughout the novel. The three main themes that stand out most are healing, communication, and relationships.
One might say we are presented with two fish stories in looking at Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, a marlin in the former and a whale in the latter. However, both of these animals are symbolic of the struggle their hunters face to find dignity and meaning in the face of a nihilistic universe in Hemingway and a fatalistic one in Melville. While both men will be unable to conquer the forces of the universe against them, neither will either man be conquered by them because of their refusal to yield to these insurmountable forces. However, Santiago gains a measure of peace and understanding about existence from his struggles, while Ahab leaves the world as he found it without any greater insight.
An allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art. Writers often use biblical and mythological allusions to which their readers are familiar. In Moby Dick, Herman Melville frequently uses biblical and mythological allusions. With these allusions the reader begins to understand the topic of discussion and is also exposed to the wisdom and knowledge Melville possess.
For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many
Many authors contributed to American literature between 1865 and 1914. Although these authors came from all over the country and lived different life styles, they still managed to include similar themes in their works. A theme is considered to be the main idea of the work, or a meaning behind the story. Within this period of American literature, three themes continued to emerge: the concept of true beauty, protection of nature, and perception versus reality.
History, current events, and social events have really influenced American Literature. Authors have been influenced by the world around them and that has reflected in their works. This can be seen throughout the many eras studied in this class. It can also be seen in all types of literature such as playwrights, fiction, non-fiction, and poems. It can also be seen in all of the different writing styles such as, realism, modernism, and post modernism. It is important that American Literature has been influenced this way because Authors have shown us their personal views and insight to situations one would not get out of a history textbook.