June 1, 2019 - Chapters Six and Seven

These two chapters center on New Bedford, Mass., from which Ishmael will eventually set sail. It turns out that New Bedford (along with Nantucket) was essentially whaling central for the United States in 1840, and Melville himself lived there for some of the time during which he wrote Moby Dick. It turns out the chapel in which Chapters Seven and following take place are also real. The Seamen's Bethel has its own website here. The final point to consider is the precariousness of the whaling profession in the United States at the time. If the novel takes place in 1840, then the industry is at its peak, but with the Gold Rush in 1849 and then the discovery of oil, the industry would decline over the next several decades.

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