I take SPACE to be the central fact to man born in America,
from Folsom cave to now. I spell it large because it comes large here. Large,
and without mercy.
It is geography at bottom, a hell of wide land from the beginning. That
made the first American story (Parkman’s): exploration.
Something else than a stretch of earth – seas on both sides, no barriers
to contain as restless a thing as Western man was becoming in Columbus’ day.
That made Melville’s story (part of it).
PLUS a harshness we still perpetuate, a sun like a tomahawk, small
earthquakes but big tornadoes and hurrikans, a river north and south in the
middle of the land running out the blood.
The fulcrum of America is the Plains, half sea half land, a high sun as
metal and obdurate as the iron horizon, and a man’s job to square the circle.
Some men ride on such space, others have to fasten
themselves like a tent stake to survive. As I see it Poe dug in and Melville
mounted. They are the alternatives.
Americans still fancy themselves such democrats. But their triumphs are
of the machine. It is the only master of space the average person ever knows,
oxwheel to piston, muscle to jet. It gives trajectory.
To Melville it was not the will to be free but the will to overwhelm
nature that lies at the bottom of us as individuals and a people. Ahab is no
democrat. Moby-Dick, antagonist, is only king of natural force, resource.
Call Me Ishmael
A Study of Melville
Charles Olson
No comments:
Post a Comment