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Melville's Affidavit

It is said that the best way to learn something is to teach it, a truth I'm discovering now as a teacher of American literature. I've been reading Moby Dick with an intensity of interest I can only attribute to the fact that I want to do right by my students and present the material as best I can. It helps that I love Melville's philosophical and narrative exploits, as well as the literary virtuosity of the thing. What is most striking to me, however, is the deeply personal aspect of Melville's story. One of the most fascinating aspects of Moby Dick is the ways in which it is not a novel, but rather a manifesto or, even more, a testament.  In chapter 45, "The Affidavit," Melville suggests the Biblical dimension of his narrative, comparing his descriptions of whales to Moses' descriptions of the plagues of Egypt. The whole point of this chapter is to ground the story of Ahab's mad pursuit of the white whale in historical fact, to establish it as no