Old Wisdom for Perilous Times

At just twenty-one years old Melville made his way to New Bedford, Massachusetts, the affluent center of the whaling industry. Melville was from a once prominent family with proud Revolutionary roots and had lived in western Massachusetts and Albany, New York during his early years. When his family fell on hard times, Melville decided to seek his fortune at sea. In his biography of Melville, Mumford writes, “we do not really pick him up again until he is in the South Seas, sailing towards the line, one of a dissatisfied company on a harsh, uncomfortable ship, under a brutal master.” Melville escaped the harsh conditions on the ship and stayed among the Typee, “whose very name meant eater of men” for four months.