Neglected for much of his career but now considered one of the greatest American writers, Melville was born into an impoverished family and had little formal schooling. He sailed for the South Seas on a whaler in 1841, jumped ship after 18 months, and spent the next 2 years on various Pacific islands. His popular first novels were based on these adventures. His masterpiece, Moby-Dick, is both an intense whaling narrative and a symbolic examination of US democracy. To whom is it dedicated? Discuss