Savage Issues

In ”Blaming the Victim” , Dimock presents Ahab as part Indian in some manner, on a very limited axis of savage-refined, where savage = Indian = romantic, while refined = capitalist = western culture. Ahab doesn't conform to the capitalist/expansionist/efficient ideas symbolized constantly in Starbuck, and emphasized in a fellow captain, Boomer. Ahab is a romantic seeking revenge on the whale, ignoring monetary gains, and this makes him (and by proxy Melville), part of the savage ideal, as Dimock describes it.

Personally, I have a problem relating to this simple axis and Dimock’s definition of savage vs. refined.  A great part of American society, considered the romantic ideals as a part of culture. To quote Mark Twain’s late criticism of Walter Scott and Ivanhoe influencing the South, "...and so you have practical, common-sense, progressive ideas, and progressive works; mixed up with the duel, the inflated speech, and the jejune romanticism of an absurd past".  Ahab ruins his immoral trade because of romanticism, and this feels to me a criticism of the antebellum south - a burning topic of Melville's day. While blaming the south for being romantic, one can't ignore its extreme capitalist concept of using slavery to further gains.

The vague reference to Pontiac has its allure. One can force this thesis on other legendary Native American leaders like Tecumseh and Lamochattee, destroying their people in a losing battle against progress. These Indian icons were known to Melville. But look at Melville’s description of the ultimate savage, Queequeg. He calls him a cannibal, the lowest of savages, while showing him as an intelligent professional at the top of his trade. This argues against the article’s savage concept. Queequeg the savage is constantly generating money (even when on land selling heads), helping out and saving lives, while the refined Ahab is leading the crew to their doom. Ignoring Queequeg, and looking at Starbuck as the only form of capitalism, and ignoring the Antebellum South, seeing only the Indians as true romantics, gives Dimock a tighter thesis, that I personally, have a problem relating to.