With his novel Moby-Dick, Herman Melville uses the voyages of a New England whaler as a metaphor for the expansionist society in which he lived. Completed in 1851, the novel condemns mid-19th-century American values. During this period, the expanding population of the United States encouraged the idea of ​​manifest destiny, or that the nation was destined to extend to the Pacific Ocean. This goal resulted in many incidents between America and neighboring civilizations, such as Mexico, and the numerous Native American tribes that were displaced or destroyed by Western settlers. The United States considered these civilizations primitive; therefore, exterminating them for their land was not seen as a criminal act, especially considering the value of natural resources that could be exploited for profit. Melville opposed this expansionist policy and the methods used to carry it out, and the novel shows this opposition as well as his admiration for native values. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the first indications we have of the author's support of native cultures being destroyed is his first interaction with Queequeg. After learning that he must share a room with the cannibal, he first argues, then accepts, as long as the native respects some rules, stating: "Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than with a drunken Christian." (31) This sentence shows us that Melville does not support the typical 19th century Christian values ​​that see pagans as subhuman. It was this superior attitude that made the American expansionist logic possible. Ishmael deepens his vision of equality a few chapters later, as the friendship between him and Queequeg develops further. He admits that it is unlike his society to befriend a savage, but declares, "I will try a pagan friend since Christian kindness has proved but empty courtesy." (53) This statement is probably one of the main reasons why many Christians at the time criticized the book, as they felt it condemned their beliefs. Here he criticizes the same kind of strict Christianity that his friend Hawthorne condemns. Melville's criticism of Christian practices is surprising, however, given the amount of scripture he uses in the novel, meaning that he must have been a fairly educated Christian at some time to be so knowledgeable about the Bible. For this reason, readers should infer that Melville is not critical of the Christian religion, but rather of the way he saw it practiced. Being a friend of Hawthorne, he probably had more than enough knowledge of the Puritan judgments used by the county's founders. Furthermore, he saw how Christianity's superior self-perception allowed them to violate pagan civilizations. It is this violation and exploitation of other societies that the book condemns as one of its main themes. Although the Pequod travels eastward, both it and the United States were attempting to exploit resources as far away as the Pacific. In this way, Melville may be trying to express that the United States is attempting to exploit every "uncivilized" area of ​​the world, taking all the lands in the west and conquering the seas around the world. Sperm whales are the symbol of the western land, which will be exploited only for what is most profitable; meanwhile wasting everything that isn't worth it. Examples of the whalers' wastefulness permeate Ishmael's tale. While I never condemn the actions, the inclusion of details allows readers to make their own inferences. One of the first indications we receive follows the capture of the first whale. Here, Melvillevividly describes the process humans follow to process the dead animal. Only the fat and the liters of spermaceti found inside the dead whale's head are taken from the whale. Most of the rest of the carcass is thrown into the ocean for the sharks to feed on. This is reminiscent of the treatment of buffalo on the plains of the Midwest in the mid-19th century, where the animals were shot and the best parts removed while the rest was left for the vultures. Ahab's monomaniacal mission to conquer the whale furthers US expansionism as the crew closes in on Moby Dick's location. In chapter 109, Starbuck informs the captain of the leak in the barrels of spermaceti in the hold. After hearing the news, we see that the captain does not care, because we learn that he does not care about the resources he has already plundered, but only about killing the White Whale. It is as if the United States was moving west, even though little had been done to cultivate the land that was already owned by the settlers, as they refused to stop until their Manifest Destiny was completed. After achieving their goal, they could focus on "trivial" things, such as using what they had not yet destroyed during the conquest. One of the most interesting aspects of the novel are the colors that are used symbolically. While Melville makes readers critical of the crew's values, he also doesn't make us sympathize with the White Whale. In fact, he depicts Moby Dick as an evil being, making everything in the novel white evil. Melville does not see whiteness as purity as modern society typically does. Rather, he sees him as an evil shadow, who cannot be trusted. By making the argument in favor of the natives, this could be used to condemn the white society, which can be seen as evil for killing so many natives. Likewise, among the characters we meet in the novel, the dark-skinned ones seem to represent the best that the characters in the book can offer. Even though none of them would be seen by society as an example to follow, they seem more civilized than their white companions. This compares them to the natives of the United States, as their actions were generally polite towards their white shipmates. This is similar to the help the colonists received from Native Americans during the Revolutionary War. Ultimately, though, the harpooners' loyalty is abused, as they are thrown to their deaths for supporting their leader's unilateral actions, just as the United States used the Indians to win the war and then stripped them of the freedom they helped the Americans gain. obtain. Other indicators of Melville's discontent with his country's policies are also found in the book, although they do not fall within the plot of the novel, but rather in the factual information the author provides to help readers better understand the whaling industry . One such example is when Melville states that "the inhabitants of Nantucketers were the first among men to harpoon with civilized steel the great sperm whale; and for half a century they were the only people in the world to harpoon them in this manner." (369) This passage is relevant because it highlights American greed. At the time of Melville's writings, whale populations around the world were in decline due to the large number of whales being caught each year. Because whales have reproductive cycles similar to humans, meaning they have nearly identical gestation periods and only have one offspring at a time, the populations didn't have enough time to regenerate. From this passage we learn that in just over 100 years the.