Moby Dick, Herman Melville, 1851
Introduction Moby Dick is the second book I’ve read in my series on American Literature and the “Great American Novel.” First, I will comment on this book’s “GAN” credentials. Whale oil was one of the most critical commodities of the 19th century Industrial Revolution economy in the United States and in the world, providing illumination and lubrication to houses, streets, and factories - really to everyone everywhere who could afford it. Unfortunately, so much of our history, including so much of humanity’s evil history, is attributable to the hunt for useful commodities - sugar, tobacco, cotton, oil, and of course, whale oil. These commodities were usually acquired through industrialized violence. While many were wrung from the soil by the callused hands and arched backs of enslaved people, whale oil was produced by hunting, butchering, and boiling whales all across the world’s oceans. To this day, the legacy of whaling is the greatly reduced and endangered whale populatio...