The Man of Sorrows: Ishmael and Melville’s Misericord He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee. -Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil The autonomous individual does not treat his own conclusions and decisions as authoritative but chooses with his eyes open, and then keeps his eyes open. He has the courage to admit that he may have been wrong even about matters of the greatest importance. -Walter Kaufmann, Without Guilt and Justice This paper will examine Melville’s democratic tragedy as a call for fellow feeling in the face of man’s insuperable longing for wholeness and universal suffering (Milder 23). Specifically, I will examine Moby-Dick in relation to the concept of misericord: a unique form of sympathy, associated with heartfelt commiseration, as well as mercy, compassion, pity, and charity. “In the teachings of the Christian churches, charity
Comments
Post a Comment