Though Herman Melville’s White-Jacket is a polemical novel that directs its satirical voice against cruel practices and oppression on American Navy vessels, it nevertheless exhibits a “profound ambivalence” toward rebellion, ideals of democracy, and authority. The narrator, innocently white and young White-Jacket, confronts the reader with powerfully colorful descriptions of flogging scenes on board the United States frigateNeversink;he lists innumerable examples of the infringements on the civil liberties of the common sailor - the common man - and he tells how well the abused sailors would be justified “in the act of mutiny itself.” White-Jacket even openly acknowledges that a man-of-war’s-man, especially an American, “would be morally justified in resisting the scourge to the uttermost; and, in so resisting, would be religiously justified.”3When the captain orders the sailors to cut off their beards, the symbols of their identity and manhood, mutiny seems to be at hand. And yet there is no trace of resistance, not even the nimblest refusal to quietly tolerate the meanest cruelties on board. The beard incident resembles a comic episode rather than a description of a profound violation of personal rights. It is not an example of the sailors’ good reasons for rebellion, but rather of a childish recalcitrance that implies the ironical question: “Who in the whole world would start a mutiny for such a cause?”
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Revolutionary Spirit
3. The Elitist Spirit
4. Conclusion
Objectives & Thematic Focus
This paper examines the inherent tension between democratic ideals and elitist tendencies within Herman Melville's novel "White-Jacket," specifically analyzing how the narrator's revolutionary rhetoric is undermined by his social alienation and perceptions of the common crew.
- The role of revolutionary sentiment and allusions in the narrative.
- The metaphorical representation of the warship as a microcosm of society.
- The contrast between the narrator's theoretical egalitarianism and his practical elitism.
- Analysis of key characters as symbolic manifestations of political and social ideals.
- The evaluation of the novel's ultimate stance on rebellion and authority.
Excerpt from the Book
3. The Elitist Spirit
The narrator admits that he remained isolated from the rest of the crew during the voyage and rather preferred the company of a chosen few, putting into question the revolutionary spirit of his narrative. The “standard interpretation of White-Jacket” is that White-Jacket’s relationship with the crew undergoes a change towards the end of the voyage: his jacket, often interpreted as the negative symbol of alienation and isolation, is discarded, which is said to show that White-Jacket finally enters a “democratic brotherhood with the crew and all mankind.” This implies that White-Jacket had been preparing his full acceptance of the ideals brought forward in the American Revolution all throughout the book, and that his famous final fall and the subsequent loss of his jacket are but logical consequences of his preparation. With regard to the allusions to various revolutions and the strong resentment detectable in White-Jacket’s descriptions of the tyranny on board the Neversink, this might be a correct assumption. However, White-Jacket’s and many other prominent characters’ open elitism, together with the curious circumstances that accompany the loss of the jacket, point to another interpretation: that White-Jacket is not the “unconditional democrat” or the “true pioneer” of a revolutionary spirit his rhetoric makes the reader believe.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the polemical nature of the novel and highlights the narrator's ambivalence toward authority, rebellion, and democracy on board the ship.
2. The Revolutionary Spirit: This section analyzes how Melville integrates revolutionary ideals and allusions to historical uprisings into the narrative context of the man-of-war.
3. The Elitist Spirit: This chapter argues that the narrator's stated egalitarianism is contradicted by his elitist disdain for the common crew and his preference for select, socially superior peers.
4. Conclusion: The concluding chapter summarizes the ideological contradiction in the novel, noting that the narrator's revolutionary stance ultimately remains an idealistic whim rather than a practical commitment to democratic change.
Keywords
Herman Melville, White-Jacket, revolutionary spirit, elitism, egalitarianism, Neversink, man-of-war, democracy, social stratification, class consciousness, rebellion, American Revolution, French Revolution, Jacobins, literary criticism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this academic work?
The work focuses on the ideological contradictions in Herman Melville's novel "White-Jacket," specifically investigating how the narrator maintains a revolutionary tone while simultaneously exhibiting elitist attitudes toward the common crew.
What are the primary thematic areas covered?
The themes include the tension between democratic ideals and authoritarian reality, the metaphor of the ship as a social microcosm, class stratification, and the narrator's internal conflict regarding his identity and social standing.
What is the central research question?
The paper asks whether White-Jacket is truly a champion of democratic, revolutionary spirit, or if his narrative is ultimately undermined by an elitist, anti-democratic bias.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The work employs a close literary analysis of the primary text, supported by historical context and a review of existing academic criticism regarding Melville's social thought.
What is discussed in the main body of the paper?
The main body examines the conflicting portrayals of "the people" on board the Neversink, the historical allusions to revolution, and the symbolic function of the protagonist's jacket in asserting class distinction.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include "revolutionary spirit," "elitism," "social stratification," "Neversink," and "ideological contradiction."
How does the author interpret the role of "Jack Chase" in the narrative?
Jack Chase is interpreted as a complex figure who embodies both a revolutionary, democratic dignity and an elitist, dictatorial tendency, reinforcing the narrator's own internal divisions.
What conclusion does the paper reach regarding the narrator's final stance?
The paper concludes that the narrator's revolutionary rhetoric is an intellectual whim that fails to translate into a practical belief in the equality of the common man, ultimately revealing an aristocratic detachment.
- Quote paper
- Silja Rübsamen (Author), 2002, The Revolutionary Spirit? Egalitarianism and Elitism in Melville's "White Jacket", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/55913
