May 28, 2019 - Chapters One and Two
This is my third time around reading this novel in its entirety, but it's the first time I've read it and realized with full gravity that the first chapter takes place in Manhattan. In particular, Melville references too places on the island with which I was unfamiliar. Ishmael states, "Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?"
Corlears Hook is still there, apparently, on the Lower East side bordering the East River and the FDR Drive. Coenties Slip is gone but was close by, much closer to the southern tip of Manhattan. Whitehall, of course, is where the ferry to Staten Island arrives. What's curious is what a person unfamiliar with Manhattan might think, i.e., that this is a lot of distance to cover -- it isn't. It's rather a short walk along the southern end of the island.
The second thing I hadn't paid much attention to before is the dating of the novel, given thus: “Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. “WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL. “BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN.”
The details here would seem to indicate 1840, the year in which the Whig William Henry Harrison defeated the incumbent Democratic President Martin van Buren -- only to die a month after inauguration and the pass the presidency to Vice President John Tyler.
Also, just a brief note on the second chapter -- I assume I'll get to discussing the racism in the novel at a later point, but it's worth noting now that it rears its head in the second chapter.
Corlears Hook is still there, apparently, on the Lower East side bordering the East River and the FDR Drive. Coenties Slip is gone but was close by, much closer to the southern tip of Manhattan. Whitehall, of course, is where the ferry to Staten Island arrives. What's curious is what a person unfamiliar with Manhattan might think, i.e., that this is a lot of distance to cover -- it isn't. It's rather a short walk along the southern end of the island.
The second thing I hadn't paid much attention to before is the dating of the novel, given thus: “Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. “WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL. “BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN.”
The details here would seem to indicate 1840, the year in which the Whig William Henry Harrison defeated the incumbent Democratic President Martin van Buren -- only to die a month after inauguration and the pass the presidency to Vice President John Tyler.
Also, just a brief note on the second chapter -- I assume I'll get to discussing the racism in the novel at a later point, but it's worth noting now that it rears its head in the second chapter.
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