This study treats comprehensively the sixteen short works of
fiction that Herman Melville wrote between 1853 and 1856, most of
which were published in "Harper's" and "Putnam's" magazines.
Concentrating on the writer's two basic motivations for writing as
he did in these stories, Dillingham argues that Melville created a
surface of almost inane congeniality in many of the works, an
illusion of vapidity that camouflages a profundity often missed by
his readers. He sought to to hide disturbing themes because the
magazines for which he was writing would almost certainly have
rejected his attempts to be more direct.
Dillingham's method is not, however, confined to a reading of
the texts. Melville's stories contain so many allusions to the
contemporary scene that they constitute in themselves a cultural
study. An important contribution of "Melville's Short Fiction" is
its discussion of these allusions. Finally, Dillingham examines the
relationship between the short fiction and Melville's own life.
Much of the writer's frustration and struggle is concealed in these
early works. Melville's friendship with Hawthorne, for example, an
intense and yet in some ways disappointing relationship for both
men, is explored as an important influence on several of the
stories.
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