About a year
ago, I was reading about the original Ku
Klux Klan. They were a bunch of educated, bored, depressed and beaten
southern soldiers, looking for some colorful misadventures, and picking on black
people. From there, quite quickly, grew the terrorist organization, which
haunted the United States on many occasions. But looking at the original group –
they liked giving themselves impressive, colorful names. The Grand Wizard ruled
the Invisible Empire, and he had a Dragon for each state. You could find a
Hydra, a Goblin, a Nighthawk, and my favorites, being non-monsters, the Lictor
and the Turk. The only decent reason to see the Turk (Master of Ceremonies and
aide to the Cyclops) as a name among the others, was because it sounded
mysterious and colorful just like the Titan. (That is, for an educated southern
Gentleman living in 1860’s United States, who went around wearing white sheets
and considered himself a knight errant). I liked to think of it as a good
example of epic namedropping.
This is
mostly how I feel about Melville’s use of the bible, Greek mythology, roman
literature, Arab motifs and other details. He’s fascinated by world culture,
some of it he studied about, and some he actually got to see. And he likes to
name-drop his vast knowledge in world culture throughout the book. If you know
the reference you enjoy it. If you don’t know the reference – you’re impressed.
He goes through a long range of cultures
– and thus doesn’t repeat himself, so it’s classic name-dropping, to me at
least.
Marr is
taking this depth, cutting a certain chunk of it – which he calls Islam - and
tries to give it more meaning then the rest. Is mentioning Ishmael in the first
sentence a means of giving Islam the superiority? Or can other references in
this books and others, which Marr considers Islamic, overwhelm any reference to
other cultures, occurring many times throughout the novel. Does Muhamad have more influence on the novel
than Shiva? St. George? Cato the younger? Or Elijah?
I can argue about Marr’s many examples of
cultures where Islam is the main religion, scattered through time and space, as
one single coherent unit, something that doesn’t fit right with the multi-faceted
writing of Melville (is 19th century Istanbul the same as 7th
century Saudi Arabia). I can also argue as a good local patriot about the Bible
having much more influence on the book and Melville (so obvious). Or maybe
point to the fact that raising one culture as dominant in the books needs proof
of lowering the others.
But the first
piece of evidence is a good pair of slippers and a comfortable pajama (the pipe
is native american so let’s keep it in brackets like Marr does). This is not
just writers over-enjoying their Byron. Other evidence arises from the Klan’s
Turks, the U.S. Marines with their Mameluke Swords, or the 70 volunteer
northern regiments fighting in the civil war (and 25 southern units), calling
themselves Zouaves (after a Berber tribe) and dressing in north-african style, including
the turban and the baggy trousers Melville’s granddaughter so disliked.
Antebellum Americans, just like their equivalents in Europe, just loved their
Orient too much, so maybe the Marr theory may hold.
Marr’s Melville, Today’s America
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 5, entitled “American Ishmael: Herman Melville’s Literary Islamicism” Timothy Marr speaks to the influence nineteenth century Islamic motifs had on Melville and other paramount American authors of the time. According to Marr, Melville’s employment of Islamic themes allowed the author free domain to explore taboo’s and preconceived notions, to employ preconception in his readership as a tool to illuminate, magnify, eroticize and even familiarize. Melville’s use of the “oriental difference” is persistent throughout Moby Dick, intertwined amidst various narrative voices, used satirically, ironically, romantically, rebelliously and erotically. Marr successfully illustrates the extent to which Melville used Islamic motifs in his writing, and demonstrates how these motifs where used for various purposes to engender an array of reactions in his readership.
Melville’s Islamic interests take on an added dimension for the 21st century American reader. Islamic imagery, one might argue, would be more readily demonized in today’s America at large than in the mid nineteenth century. For many American’s in the post 9/11 world, the mere mention of Islamicism now conjures the immediate association with religious fanaticism and terrorism. In such a slanted spotlight, Ahab becomes pure villain, as Marr states, “Ahab’s religion is the crusading and violent absolutism that emanates from the core of religious fanatics, epitomized for many Westerners in the religion of Islam.” (P.229) The average American reader may be unable to escape these prejudices and may become stuck on the mere reference, associating Ahab with fanaticism exclusively. They could not accompany Melville in his progressive thinking, as Marr continues, “Yet Melville also saw fresh and universal nobility in the courageous energy and wild earnestness of Ahab’s both rebellion against the petty hypocrisy of parochial conventions and the affronting dictates of divine fate.”
In Marr’s chapter we are shown how Melville used Islamic themes continuously throughout Moby Dick as a multi-dimensional literary tool. This only begs the question, what would be the reaction of Melville’s pervading theme if Moby Dick were released in today’s America?