In Celebration of Herman Melville
In my junior year in high school, we read Moby Dick. In my memory, it took most of the year to read the nearly 600 pages. And, even though I am an inveterate reader, it ranks among the longest years of my life, filled with complex ideas, challenging language, realistic passages mixed with metaphorical meanderings. Like most readers and critics who encountered the book when it was released in 1851, I was not ready for it.
It was a century before American literature caught up with the genius of author Herman Melville, who, inspired by his friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne—he of Scarlett Letter fame—and his own early adventures on the high seas, penned the classic story of a vengeful sea captain on a maniacal quest to kill an albino whale that bit off his leg during an earlier voyage.
Melville, who sailed the world’s oceans as a cabin boy and later signed up for a three-year whaling voyage, did not write Moby Dick until he was ensconced on a landlocked farm in Pittsfield MA. Melville, familiar with the town and its beauty from youthful visits to his uncle’s farm, bought property there in 1850 and named it Arrowhead, a reference to the artifacts he unearthed in his fields.
Despite a houseful of family, he found the peace there that he needed to write. He described the harmony of his life in the following passage: “I rise at eight–thereabouts–& go to my barn–say good-morning to the horse, & give him his breakfast. (It goes to my heart to give him a cold one, but it can’t be helped). Then, pay a visit to my cow–cut up a pumpkin or two for her, & stand by to see her eat it–for it’s a pleasant sight to see a cow move her jaws–she does it so mildly & with such a sanctity–My own breakfast over, I go to my work-room & light my fire–then spread my M.S.S. on the table–take one business squint at it, & fall to with a will. At 2 1/2 p.m. I hear a preconcerted knock at my door, which (by request) continues till I rise & go to the door, which serves to wean me effectively from my writing, however interested I may be… . ”
In that study, he contemplated the outline of Mount Greylock through his window. The silhouette of the hill reminded him of the outline of a sperm whale’s back. Combining hair-raising stories remembered from his whaling days with his inspirational talks with Hawthorne, he sketched out a whale of a tale of vengeance. It would eventually make him a literary icon but, ironically, it was trashed by 19th-century critics and sent his writing career—heretofore moderately successful—into a tailspin from which it would never recover.
If Melville were alive today, he would feel vindicated for the faith he had in the ultimate success of his opus. His name is universally known (especially by high school juniors). And Arrowhead, which he eventually had to sell to satisfy debts, is today owned by the Berkshire Historical Society, which keeps the memory of his sojourn in that city alive. This summer it has been celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth with events such as a three-day continuous reading of Moby Dick. The reading was interrupted only for the morning of August 4th so that people could attend the Monument Mountain walk celebrating the day that Melville met Hawthorne.
A visit to Arrowhead is evocative of the world that Melville found there when, from 1850 to 1863, he and his family of 11, called Arrowhead home. Mid-century, the Berkshires were already a Mecca for artists and glitterati such as Hawthorne and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The author’s home has been meticulously restored to the time of Melville’s residence. Trained guides help visitors explore the historic rooms, rooms that inspired his work.
Here they will see the chimney that served as the muse for his 1856 story, I and My Chimney, a tale about the efforts of a wife to remodel an ancient farmhouse by replacing the central chimney. It contains one of the most complete descriptions of Arrowhead during the Melville occupancy, in which he describes “the one grand central chimney, upon all four sides of which are hearths—two tiers of hearths ...”
Melville’s younger brother, Allan, who purchased Arrowhead from his brother, had inscribed on the chimney text from the story which remains for visitors to see along with an original copy of the story.
The beauty surrounding the property also made its way into Melville’s works. The first chapter of the novel Israel Potter includes a lyrical description of the area surrounding Arrowhead: “In fine clear June days, the bloom of these mountains is beyond expression delightful. … (S)pring, like the sunset, flings her sweetest charms upon them. Each tuft of upland grass is musked like a bouquet with perfume. The balmy breeze swings to and fro like a censer… .”
And people he knew in the region also informed his stories. His interactions with the Hancock Shakers gave birth to Gabriel of the Jeroboam, in Moby Dick, while the Crane Paper Mill girls are depicted in The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids.
Visitors are encouraged to explore the community known to Melville. The Melville Trail connects Melville to many places in Berkshire County. Four of his most beloved places now have permanent interpretive panels: Arrowhead, Pontoosuc Lake, where he fished; Berkshire Athenaeum, which preserves Melville’s manuscript correspondence, first editions, family portraits, pictures and personal items and Monument Mountain, where on a picnic trek he had his momentous first encounter with Hawthorne.
Included on the trail are eight more places that Melville visited. Park Square where he attended church; the Hancock Shaker Village; Crane Museum of Paper Making; Balance Rock, which Melville and his neighbor, Sarah Morewood, visited in 1851 to experience the rock’s influence; the Lenox Court House; the Hawthorne Cottage; October Mountain, which he is reputed to have named, and Mount Greylock.
Arrowhead, located at 780 Holmes Road in Pittsfield, is open daily Memorial Day Weekend to Columbus Day from 9:30AM - 5PM. Tours are offered hourly from 10AM - 4PM; 413-443-1793; CFor further information please click on the link below.