When Herman Melville began writing Moby-Dick, he felt constrained by his financial obligations. In a letter to his close friend and fellow author Nathaniel Hawthorne, Melville proclaimed that "dollars damn me" and noted: "What drives me most to write is forbidden, it will not pay." Yet overall, writing the other way around, I can't. So the product is a final hash, and all my books are botched” (“To Nathaniel” 539). Unfortunately, Melville found himself subject to the fundamental economic forces of supply and demand. Melville feared that the fiction he could not stop writing would not meet consumer demand, thus preventing him from making any profit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As Melville might have expected, his final product was not widely purchased, and Moby-Dick was not widely studied until critics "[ignored] evidence biographical as irrelevant to criticism, and pledged to regard any poem or novel as a perfect work of art, not a botched one” (Parker 714). The New Criticism isolated the text to find its meaning, and critics began to compare Melville to famous authors such as William Shakespeare. However, Melville's personal life should not be ignored for Moby-Dick to exist as a classic work of literature. In fact, understanding important biographical information offers a new way to understand the insightful role of economics in his famous work. Using his own experiments in economics, Melville unwittingly created a work that astutely describes the complex principles of microeconomics, including supply and demand, high risks and costs, and what economists call "positive externalities." , while emphasizing the more elusive behavioral economics. that impact an individual cost-benefit analysis. Specifically, a comparison of the economic aspects of Melville's authorship with those of whaling reveals that Moby-Dick exists as a literary representation of the individual's relationship to an economic system. Although Melville wrote a few successful novels before attempting Moby-Dick, they were not popular enough to prevent him from falling into debt after purchasing a farm near his late uncle's property. In Hershel Parker's "Damned by Dollar: Moby-Dick and the Price of Genius", Parker reveals that Melville turned to his publishers, Harper & Brothers, for an advance on his manuscript to help finance his farm in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, the publishing house rejected Melville's request: "On April 30, the Harpers sent their refusal, citing their "extreme and expensive addition" to their factory and pointing out that Melville was already in debt to them of "nearly seven hundred dollars”” (Parker 717-718). According to Harper, demand for Melville's manuscript was not high enough to obtain a price that would justify an advance, and therefore publishers would not pay for Melville's first copy, nor for the supply. Although Melville is recognized today as an incredibly talented writer, at the time his early works did not generate enough income to offset the costs of their publication. This personal familiarity with supply and demand allowed Melville to accurately describe Ishmael's relationship with the supply and demand of works of art. whaling work. In many ways, Melville, in debt, is a lot like Ishmael, the narrator ofMoby-Dick: Melville had a desire to write a manuscript about a whaling voyage, and Ishmael has a desire to join a whaling voyage. Ishmael admits that he cannot go to sea as a passenger, because "as a passenger you have to have a handbag, and a handbag is just a rag unless you have something in it” (Melville, Moby-Dick 20). Ishmael does not face the looming and financially crippling loans that Melville faced from his father-in-law Lemuel Shaw and his friend T.D. Stewart. The narrative suggests, however, that like Melville, Ishmael struggled with finances which shaped his career path. Ishmael therefore chose to take to the sea “like a simple sailor” and understands that he will be subject to a hierarchical authority who “will order me over certain people and will make me jump from spar to spar like a grasshopper” (20). Ishmael recognizes that he lacks the human capital, or skills, necessary to fill the more profitable position of captain or harpooner. Melville did not expect the publishers to refuse his monetary request, but Ishmael seems to fully understand his position in the market for whaling talent; Melville only understood his relationship to supply and demand after Harper refused his call. Ishmael provided the Pequod with his skills and he joined the whaler as a rower. The Pequod have a demand, or need, for labor, and Peleg hires Ishmael with a “'three hundredth lay'” (76). Melville may not have intentionally created a correlation between himself and his editors and Ishmael and Captain Peleg, but the similarities suggest that Melville innately recognized that all men are subject to the economic forces of supply and request. Melville's financial relationship with his publishers refined his understanding. of the individual's relationship to the supply and demand of paternity, but his own voyage on the whaling ship Acushnet gave him economic experience for the entire whaling market. In “Blubber Capitalism,” Laura Saunders explains that sperm whale oil stimulated economic activity in 19th-century America. She states, “Consumer demand has resulted in the most dangerous big game hunts ever known” (96). This was especially true for Melville. In Tyrus Hillway's biography of Herman Melville, Hillway admits that Melville was beset by family debts and that, as a result, he "was ultimately driven to make one of those crucial decisions which shape the destinies of men" (35). . On January 3, 1841, Melville left New Bedford Harbor and boarded the Acushnet for her eleven-month whaling voyage. The author of Moby-Dick took advantage of the economic need of the whalers. In fact, the demand for whale oil was so high that port cities such as New Bedford, Massachusetts, became "home to perhaps the greatest concentration of wealth in America" ​​(Saunders 96). Melville's novel directly illustrates this accumulation of wealth when Ishmael travels to Nantucket and passes through New Bedford. The narrator observes that the city’s thriving economy relies on whaling and proclaims, “Yes; all these brave houses and flower gardens came from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. All were harpooned and dragged hither from the bottom of the sea” (Melville, Moby-Dick 42). Melville's trip confirmed his recognition of the importance of whaling to the American economy. In turn, he is able to describe a literary example of free market capitalism that caused individuals to join three- or four-year expeditions to produce a supply of oil to meet the growing demand of domestic and global consumers. By analyzingMelville's familiarity with both Due to the high risks and costs, the economic and literary relationship between authorship and whaling, although unintentional, becomes more defined. Not only did Melville profit from his years spent on the Acushnet, Lucy Ann, and Charles and Henry, but he also spent much of his income on books about whaling. Parker explains, “He began buying the books he needed to write books, thus gobbling up his profits in advance” (714). For Melville, writing came with high costs, as he had to spend a considerable amount of money on books before he could even write Moby-Dick. Additionally, writing involves high risks because there is no guarantee that a new book will be successful. Authors therefore rely on publishers to help them finance and promote their books. Although the correlation is unconscious, the inevitable economic liabilities that Melville faced in writing his novel mimic the larger economic risks and costs that affected the entire whaling industry. Saunders clarifies this point: “Whaling was both capital-intensive and very risky. It took $20,000 to $30,000 to start a business, at a time when the average farm was worth $2,500” (97). In Melville's novel, Ishmael reveals that the whaling industry coped with high capital investment and high risk in the same way. When Ishmael meets Bildad, the financier explains that he is captain of a “ship in which a few thousand hard-earned dollars have been invested” (Melville, Moby-Dick 95). Essentially, whaling relied on investors, just as authors relied on publishers. Melville's financial relationships with his publishers and Ishmael's with Bildad imply that individual economic activity often depends on external investment. However, more important than simply having high risks and costs, authorship and whaling share a similarity in how costs are transferred from one to the other. respectively from publishers to authors and from dealers to crew members. In 1853, Melville became familiar with the deferral of publishers' fees. Parker relates: "Much of Harper's stock of printed books and sheets was destroyed by fire, and the brothers billed Melville again for the costs before giving him royalties on his books... They charged him two times their expenses” (721). To offset the high costs and risks of authorship, publishers charged authors before paying them royalties on their successful books. Unfortunately, this also meant that authors still owed expenses even if their works were not successful. Similarly, investors mitigated the high costs and risks of whaling by withholding workers' wages. Saunders explains that instead of earning a salary, the whalers would receive "a 'lay,' share of the net revenue" (97). In another biography on Herman Melville, Leon Howard reveals that Melville's whaling voyage used the same share of the proceeds, so investors would not have to pay workers for an unsuccessful whaling voyage (42). In turn, Melville uses Ishmael to tell his readers about this unusual payment system. The narrator states: "All hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays, and that these lays were proportionate to the degree of importance relative to the respective duties of the ship's crew" (Melville, Moby-Dick 75). .This correlation between the economics of Melville's writings and Ishmael's whaling demonstrates the application of human function within an economic system. More specifically, the economic dilemma of an individual author and publisher can be used to understand the more complex economic workings of an entire industry. The correlation between authorship and whaling extends beyond the technical aspects of supply and demand and capital-intensive businesses to highlight the most important aspects. concept of positive externalities. Although it is unlikely that Melville was aware of discussions regarding economic externalities, his work expertly demonstrates this complex theory. Essentially, positive externalities are unintended benefits that result from an economic transaction, but are generally recognized by those not participating in the transaction. While whaling directly benefited the whalers and those who purchased sperm whale oil, it also had external benefits recognized by the rest of society. For example, Saunders explains that “American whaling captains literally mapped the Pacific Ocean” (96). Similarly, Ishmael explains that “the whaler was the pioneer in the discovery of the most remote and least known regions of the earth” (Melville, Moby-Dick 99). Whaling, both real and literary, opened the door to cartography, and society benefited from the substantial increase in knowledge about its globe. Additionally, the emphasis on economic efficiency made whaling "an almost color-blind outlet, which was rare at the time" (Saunders 97). Individuals of color directly benefited from a system capitalist that did not discriminate against them on the basis of race, but society as a whole benefited from a system that financially recognized individuals of color as equal or superior to whites. Aboard the Acushnet, Melville was in the “presence of the usual mix of free blacks, Portuguese, and foreigners from northern Europe” (Howard 42). He describes this common racial integration, a little-known positive externality, in his harpooneers Queequeg, a "dark-complexioned" cannibal, Tashtego, a "pure Indian", and Dagoo, a "black savage" (Melville, Moby-Dick 28, 106). In fact, Melville emphasizes the acceptance of non-whites in free market whaling when the hesitant Captains Peleg and Bildad change their minds about hiring Queequeg. Peleg shouts, “'Get the ship's papers. We must have Hedgehog there, I mean Quohog, in one of our boats. Listen, Quohog, we'll give you the ninetieth lay, and that's more than ever a harpooner was ever given to Nantucket'” (85). Even if a racist society does not accept non-whites, a system focused on efficiency and profit becomes blind to arbitrary skin differences, and the cannibal Queequeg earns a higher salary than the white Ishmael. In addition to benefiting the buyer and seller of sperm oil, individuals within society benefit from cartographic maps of the world and increased acceptance of racial diversity. In fact, Melville's own association with whalers suggests that the economic activity of whaling had a short-term impact. positive externality of the provision of resources for literature. As Ishmael attempts to describe the great sperm whale, he recognizes its limitations and remarks: "The only way in which you can obtain even a tolerable idea of ​​its living form is to go hunting yourself." to the whale” (Melville, Moby-Dick 218). . If whaling is not possible foran artist, Ishmael admits that he can simply maintain a close relationship with a whaler. For example, when describing a painting of a whale by French artist Ambrose Louis Garneray, Ishmael assumes that the man "was either practically familiar with his subject or wonderfully instructed by an experienced whaler" (220). Although Melville had personal experience of whaling, in composing his novel he benefited from the experiences of other whalers on the high seas. In Melville's handwritten notes on "The Essex Wrecked by a Whale" d 'Owen Chase, Melville relates: "I had no opportunity of conversing with Owen (even though he was [6] on board our ship for two hours straight) nor did I I have never seen him since” (“[Manuscript Notes]” 572). Melville did, however, have the opportunity to meet Chase's son, and the young man gave Melville a "complete copy...of the narrative." Chase did not embark on his whaling journey solely to provide background information on Melville's literature; most likely, Chase joined Essex for his own economic gain. Regardless, Melville internalized the benefits of Chase's sea voyages, and the author unwittingly used the positive externalities of whaling to help him create his famous novel. However, Melville's work most strikingly demonstrates the long-term positive externalities of whaling and fatherhood when he considers metaphorical representations. whales. When Melville wrote Moby-Dick in 1850, few people had the opportunity to go on a voyage and observe whales for themselves. Melville's thorough physical description and spirited depiction of whales transported contemporary readers to the Pequod and allowed them to experience a whaling voyage in their own home. On the other hand, as modern readers are more familiar with the anatomy of a whale, Melville's text has long-term benefits beyond simply explaining an unknown animal. Contemporary audiences have either seen a picture of a whale or seen a whale on television, and many have even seen a whale in captivity. The familiarity of the mammal allows current readers to look beyond the physical description of the whale and find deeper connections to the metaphors of the text. Most likely, Melville did not anticipate the connection each reader would make with his text, so each metaphor that helps individuals find new meaning is an unintended benefit, or positive externality, of both the hunt for the whale and paternity. For example, in describing the sperm whale's tail, Ishmael states: “True strength never detracts from beauty or harmony, but often bestows them; and in all that is of imposing beauty, strength has much to do with magic” (Melville, Moby-Dick 294). It would be more difficult for someone unfamiliar with the anatomy of a whale's tail to give meaningful metaphorical meaning to Melville's literary description. However, through Melville's metaphor, contemporary readers can make thousands of insightful connections to help them understand complex and intangible ideas. In “Moby-Dick: Work of Art,” Walter Bezanson illustrates the endless possibilities with phrases from Melville's famous work. He says: “Find a key word or metaphor, start picking it like you would a wildflower, and you’ll find yourself tearing up the entire forest floor. Rhetoric transforms into symbolism and symbolism into structure; then it all falls apart and starts again” (Bezanson 656). The whaling industry helpedMelville to create his literary work, and Melville's novel helped individuals find personal and relevant meaning in the profound description of the whale; whaling and authorship worked together to highlight the microeconomic principles of positive externalities. Melville's work highlights many microeconomic principles that economics struggles to explain, but a comparison between authorship and whaling reveals that Melville inherently understood and demonstrated the much more complex behavioral economics. While microeconomics focuses on efficiency, behavioral economics analyzes the psychology of an individual's decision-making process. As part of the decision-making process, men and women perform a cost-benefit analysis to help them make their choices. However, people do not always use their economic interests as the framework for their cost-benefit analysis. For example, when Melville was informed that his late uncle's farm had been sold, land described as Melville's "first love," he "was filled with an absolutely unreasonable jealousy" (Parker 716). Melville then made an irrational decision; he purchased a small farm near his late uncle's property for $6,500. Instead of purchasing a modest house that he could afford, Melville was motivated by interests outside of financial stability and he purchased the farm in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. For the author, the benefit of owning a personally sentimental farm outweighed the costs of carrying a large debt. Melville experienced first-hand the relevance of using behavioral economics to study individuals, as he found himself compelled by desires other than economic self-interest to make financial decisions. Melville uses this intuitive understanding of behavioral economics to describe Ahab as an individual psychologically motivated by ambitions. other than personal economic interest. Ahab's inspiration to hunt Moby Dick contrasts with the desire of his stakeholders, or investors. As Captain Bildad sees the Pequod set sail, he exclaims: “Be careful in hunting, comrades. Do not unnecessarily hinder the boats, harpooners; a good white cedar board is raised three percent. in the year” (Melville, Moby-Dick 96). Bildad reveals that investors are focused on their economic interests and do not want whalers to take unnecessary risks, as this represents a financial liability. Similarly, Starbuck uses money to guide his cost-benefit analysis, and he proclaims, "'I came here to hunt whales, not for revenge on my commander'" (139). Starbuck simultaneously discovers that his own psychology is motivated by financial gain and that Ahab's psychology is motivated by revenge. Starbuck cites the economic interest of investors to justify shutting down the Pequod so the crew can deal with the semen oil leak. Ahab's response, however, asserts that the captain's desires differ from those who use financial gain for their decision-making process. Ahab puts it this way: “Let the owners stand on the beach of Nantucket and shout louder than the typhoons. What does Ahab care? Owners, owners? You always talk to me, Starbuck, about these miserly landlords, as if the landlords were my conscience” (362). Ahab intentionally distinguishes himself from the owners, suggesting that he is not motivated by personal economic interests. Ahab is motivated, like Melville, by irrational desire. Ahab recognizes that his selfish ambition has distorted his cost-benefit analysis when he confides in. 2013.