A Liberal Interpretation of Moby Dick
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30800/mises.2021.v9.1389Keywords:
American Revolution, liberal values, Herman Melville, Moby DickAbstract
The essay offers an economic interpretation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Its central thesis is that the cetacean represents, in an emblematic way, the values that conditioned the birth of the United States as a nation. To carry out the endeavor, the paper places the book in the historical context, describes the literary revolution that haunted this nation, and Moby Dick's place in the movement. This essay examines some key passages in the adventure story that support the interpretation, especially chapters 42 and 54 of the work. We seek to unravel the main subliminal messages of the book. The heart of the book is identified in terms of the values it affirms, offering a liberal interpretation of the message of the book, associating the creature protagonist of the work with justice.
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This Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
