Dec 17, 2009

White-Jacket | White-Jacket

At a glance:

Author: Herman Melville
First Published: 1850
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Adventure
Time of Work: The 1840’s
Setting: A vessel of the U.S. Navy
Genres: Long fiction, Adventure, Sea story
Subjects: Voyages, Nineteenth century, Alienation, Death or dying, Ships, Sailing or sailors, Amputation, amputees, or prosthetics, Sea or seafaring life, Navies, Clothing or dress
Locales: Oceans

Characters Discussed

White-Jacket, a common seaman aboard the United States frigate Neversink on a voyage from the Pacific around Cape Horn to the eastern seaboard. White-Jacket gets his name aboard the ship when he sews for himself a canvas jacket for protection against the cold of the Cape. He is a sensitive young man and is greatly disturbed by practices common aboard U.S. naval vessels of the nineteenth century; floggings, tyrannical officers, and issuance of liquor to crewmen all draw his fire. White-Jacket’s story ends when he falls overboard off the Virginia...

[The entire page is 531 words long]

White-Jacket | White-Jacket

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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