How Whaling Shaped Herman Melville, Moby Dick, and America

Herman Melville, born into a privileged family in New York, faced hardship after financial loss and his father's death. He worked at sea, including on a whaling ship, gaining experiences that influenced his writing. Whaling was a major 19th-century industry, crucial to the US economy. Melville's novel, Moby Dick, draws from his sea adventures, focusing on Captain Ahab's revenge quest against a white whale and Ishmael's search for knowledge.

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