Intense.

Ok. First and foremost I want to say that I seriously quite thoroughly enjoyed this story! I think all the characters within it are genius and I feel like the reader can really tell how much time Melville spent in writing this because it is so beautifully crafted. (That said, I actually have no idea how long he took to write it… but I would imagine that he worked pretty hard on it… hopefully.)

But, I figure my gushing about the novel doesn't really give one to respond to so I will blog about Melville's stance on slavery. (I hope I'm not repeating what anyone's already said.) If one is to determine whether or not Herman Melville was pro or anti-slavery just based on this work, I would say that while he is anti-slavery, he is most definitely a racist. Wow!

My case for him not being pro-slavery is well-supported (I think) by the quote on page 84:

"At home, he had often taken rare satisfaction in sitting in his door, watching some free man of color at his work or play… Captain Delano took to negroes, not philanthropically, but genially, just as other men to Newfoundland dogs."

Ok. I think the very last part of that quote probably proves his racism but I have a different quote for that. I don't think that one who enjoys watching a free black man do anything (at the time, obviously) could be considered pro-slavery. I heartily doubt that ANY slave-owner at the time would've enjoyed seeing a free black man.

But, to further prove his racism, I refer to the quote on page 88 in reference to the "mulatto" Francesco:

"For it were strange, indeed, and not very creditable to us white-skins, if a little of our blood mixed with the African's should, far from improving the latter's quality, have the sad effect of pouring vitriolic acid into black broth; improving the hue, perhaps, but not wholesomeness."

I think both of those quotes make the argument for themselves that Herman Melville, while against slavery, was more than likely at least a smidgeon racist.