I. Herman Melville

a. 1819-1891

b. Both grandfathers were Revolutionary War heroes.

c. Third oldest of eight children

d. In 1839 he went to sea to earn his living.

e. Wrote a series of “sea voyage” voyage novels, including Moby Dick in 1851

f. Haunted by financial problems as his novels did not sell exceptionally well.

g. Suffered from depression and bouts of alcoholism

h. Frequent themes in his literature

i. Male-only society (on ship, military, professional offices)

ii. The self-sacrificing anti-hero who chooses death to secure the success or savior of others.

iii. The obsessed hero who is consumed with internal conflict

II. Nathaniel Hawthorne

a. Born July 4, 1804 in Salem, MA.

b. One ancestor was John Hathorne, a judge involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Some critics claim Hawthorne harbored feelings of guilt or responsibility for his ancestors role and the fact that John Hathorne never repented for condemning innocent women to death, and that he added the “w” to his name to distance himself from the history of his family.

c. Worked as a revenue or customs inspector for the Port of Salem, MA

d. Stories were often cautionary tales that presented characters rejecting traditional Puritan values and paying a steep price for their sins. Characters often portrayed an outward devoutness that hid an evil deep within.

e. Interested in exploring the distance between the mind and the soul and the psychology of characters who performed acts they knew to be inherently sinful or immoral.

f. In response to his feelings about his ancestor, Judge Hathorne, Hawthorne worked to expose the ironic evil of the Puritans.

A student is writing an essay with the following thesis, Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote during the same time period, but there were many differences in their careers.

What information would the student NOT include in her essay?