Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract: This article examines the relationship between Melville’s ideas about religion and Melville’s representations of the ocean. Across Melville’s long career, the ocean is a site of profound spiritual significance. That significance is tied to the openness and formlessness of the sea, which Melville frequently compares to the openness and formlessness of religious belief. This article tracks the development of Melville’s ideas about the ocean, and the spiritual dimensions of those ideas, from his early experiences at sea through his later fiction and poetry.
Cody Marrs (Sat,) studied this question.