Melville's Childhood experiences and their influence on his personality and writings

Abstract

In this article we attempt to support the theory that there was a latent homosexuality in the 19th century American author Herman Melville. We also seek to explain his penchant through an analysis of his childhood experiences and his family conditions, which seem to have fostered his personal attitudes towards men and women. An example of this is the peculiar relationship that he maintained with his mother. lt is impossible to determine how aware he was of his natural inclinations, but we can say that his literature echoes his personal attitudes. Personalities as that of Claggart and books as "Moby-Dick" would have been unrealizable by a man who did not look at men the way he did.