NARCISSISM IN THE NOVELS OF HERMAN

MELVILLE
S u s a n K. Dyer, Ph.D.

The nineteenth-century novels of Herman Melville, in their exploration of the

theme of the conflict of man's godlike aspirations with his all-too-human limita-
tions, anticipate the twentieth-century psychoanalytic understanding of narciss-
ism, as developed by Sigmund Freud and Hans Kohut, specifically its psycho-
dynamic model of the ego ideal in conflict with reality and the finiteness of
human life. Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick is a vivid portrait of a narcissistic
character, while Captain Vere in Billy Budd stands as a model of the "transforma-
tions of narcissism" in a mature individual. Melville's imaginative fiction is still
capable of giving us valuable insights into the human condition.

H e r m a n Melville's p o r t r a y a l of C a p t a i n A h a b in Moby-Dick was

recognized by Heinz K o h u t as a classic p r e - F r e u d i a n s t u d y of a
narcissistic c h a r a c t e r disorder. Melville's instinctive a n d sympa-
t h e t i c y e t c l e a r h e a d e d grasp of Ahab's n a r c i s s i s m gives us a n
u n u s u a l l y full a n d insightful view of t h e p s y c h o d y n a m i c s of this
disorder. As fiction, Melville's c h a r a c t e r s t u d y e n g a g e s us hu-
m a n l y a n d i m a g i n a t i v e l y on levels t h a t clinical case histories by
t h e i r v e r y n a t u r e seldom do. Melville's i n t e r e s t in t h e t h e m e of
n a r c i s s i s m e x t e n d s t h r o u g h o u t his fiction, i n c l u d i n g a s t u d y of
w h a t K o h u t h a s called t h e % r a n s f o r m a t i o n s of narcissism" (1) in
t h e c h a r a c t e r of C a p t a i n Vere in Billy Budd, a n d a f a s c i n a t i n g

Address correspondence to Susan K. Dyer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Depart-

ment of English, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614.

PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY, Vol. 65, No. 1, Spring 1994

0033-2720/94/0300-0015507.00/0 9 1994 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 15
16 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

philosophical discussion of the whole issue in the seldom-read book

written immediately after Moby-Dick, Melville's strange and
largely unsuccessful Pierre.
At the heart of Pierre lies an extraordinary gem of an essay in
the guise of a philosophical lecture by one Plotinus Plinlimmon.
The lecture, enigmatically entitled '~EI" (Greek, '~If'), or ~Chronom-
etricals and Horologicals," ponders one of the fundamental moral
themes of Melville's a r t - t h e conflict between man's heaven-aspir-
ing soul and the limitations of his mortal being. The basic meta-
phor of Plotinus Plinlimmon's pamphlet contrasts a ship's chro-
nometer, set by Greenwich time and constant everywhere, against
local (horological) time, which varies from place to place and is, for
example, quite different in China from Greenwich time. Chronom-
etrical time, in Plinlimmon's metaphor, is heavenly time, and
Christ is the archetypal chronometer. Horological time is worldly
time, which, though limited in scope, has distinct advantages for
those who live in this less-than-perfect world.
According to Plinlimmon, the man of chronometrical soul, who
attempts to live by God's laws in a world of men, may work himself
woe and death; at the very least, he will be thought mad or
eccentric by his fellows. Melville presents a similar idea in the
famous passage of Moby-Dick about the doomed cabin boy Pip:

He saw God's foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and
therefore his shipmates called him mad. So man's insanity is
heaven's sense; and wandering from all mortal reason, man comes
at last to that celestial thought, which, to reason, is absurd and
frantic. (2:347)

Plinlimmon advocates a middle way, asserting that whereas man

should abstain from downright wickedness, he cannot possibly live
up to the pure Christian ideal. While recognizing the ~%eauty of
chronometrical excellence," Plinlimmon recommends to m a n k i n d
only a ~virtuous expediency," which includes ordinary h u m a n vir-
tues, such as tolerance and forgiveness, but excludes god-like per-
fection as unattainable and misleading for man.
The profound psychological roots of this conflict between man's
immortal aspirations and his all-too-human limitations help to
explain the continuing and deepening interest that Melville has
had for our century. Using the Freudian insights available at the
SUSAN K. DYER 17

time, Newton Arvin touched on the ~egoistic strivings" of Moby-

Dick and Ahab's ~raging egoism" as early as 1950 (3), but only in
the 1970's did psychoanalytic work, notably by Heinz Kohut and
by Otto Kernberg, begin to fathom the vicissitudes of narcissism
that Melville intuitively and brilliantly portrayed in his fiction.
Melville himself recognized the psychological source of his theme
in the passage:
And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because
he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the foun-
tain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we
ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungrasp-
able phantom of life; and this is the key to it all. (2:14)
Freud himself referred to the early narcissistic feeling of oneness
with the universe (the prototype, he believed, of later religious and
mystical experience) as an '~oceanic feeling" (4).
In order to assess the extent of the involvement of narcissism in
Plinlimmon's theme, it may be helpful to review briefly the devel-
opment of narcissism in the normal individual, as understood by
modern psychoanalytic theory, and some of the possible patholog-
ical disturbances that may occur in this development.
The h u m a n infant in the womb lies securely at the center of his
universe. His every need is constantly and unfailingly gratified.
He is omnipotent. Upon his arrival in the world, if all goes well,
the infant's situation is not greatly altered. If he feels hungry,
tired, cold, or lonely, he cries, and his need is met. He is still the
center of the universe, as his parents will readily attest. He still
experiences himself as all-powerful. Psychoanalysts refer to this
state, not without awe, as primary narcissism.
The great and eternal enemy of this glorious state of omnipo-
tence is called the reality principle. It appears very early in life,
and with devastating consequences for primary narcissism. The
infant is hungry and cries, but mother does not immediately ap-
pear. The universe is imperfect. It is not, as the infant had previ-
ously assumed, under his control. The result is rage; possibly, if
mother does not hurry, despair. In any case, the original sense of
omnipotence has received the first of many irreversible injuries.
Reality has entered in.
The first solution to this distressing discovery is a mere shift of
focus. The infant sees that he is not omnipotent, but he consoles
18 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

himself in the belief that his mother is. It is she who controls the
universe. The infant need only relate himself indissolubly to her
and all will be well. But reality is not to be put off so easily. It is
not long before the infant's dawning awareness of his mother's
separateness from him forces him to relinquish the fantasy of
exclusive possession of her. Though still believing in the mother's
omnipotence, the child is forced to admit that she is not unfailingly
at his beck and call, not totally under his control.
A new and durable solution is sought and found. It is the forma-
tion of what Freud called the ego ideal. Recognizing that he is
small and helpless, and that his mother is not always available to
him, the infant now forms an ideal of what he would like to be (i.e.,
omnipotent, like his parents). The love he had originally invested
in himself, and later directed to his omnipotently-seen mother,
finding these objects unworthy or unreliable, turns instead to this
new and better possibility of self, the ego ideal. As Freud defined
it, ~The ego ideal is the heir of the original narcissism" (5), and the
love invested in it is called secondary narcissism: we love not
ourselves but the ideal self that we desire to become. Thus, in ~On
Narcissism: An Introduction," Freud says that man creates ideals
for himself in order to restore the lost narcissism of childhood (6).
More recent psychoanalysts have affirmed this view. H a r t m a n n
and Loewenstein state: '~The setting up the ego ideal can be consid-
ered a rescue operation for narcissism" (7); and John M. Murray
writes that the ego ideal ~is born as an effort to restore the lost
Shangri-La of the relations with the all-giving primary mother"
(8).
As might be expected, the early ego ideal is based chiefly on the
child's unrealistic perception of his all-powerful parents. In a semi-
nal paper on the subject, Annie Reich explains that the ego ideal
develops through ~identification with parental figures seen in a
glorified light, which are based on the child's longing to share or
take over the parental greatness in order to undo his own feeling of
weakness" (9). Inevitably, this early ego ideal contains narcissistic
elements of omnipotence and grandiosity which cannot possibly be
gratified in the real world. As Reich elsewhere explains, ~The ego
i d e a l . . , is based upon the desire to cling in some form or another
to a denial of the ego's, as well as of the parents', limitations and to
regain infantile omnipotence by identifying with the idealized
parent" (10).
SUSAN K. DYER 19

The ego ideal is subject to growth and change throughout life,

but it endures as a mental structure. The ego ideal represents one's
highest aspirations. It is the ego ideal, Freud claimed, '~y which
the ego measures itself, towards which it strives, and whose de-
mands for ever-increasing perfection it is always striving to fulfill"
(11). A person's sense of self-esteem is determined by the distance
between his actual self and his ego ideal.
Once formed, the ego ideal may be modified, but never abolished,
by the pressures of reality. As the child grows older, he learns that
mother is not, after all, omnipotent. She cannot make it stop
raining on his birthday. She cannot bring his pet turtle back from
the land of the dead. She cannot even fix a broken truck. And she is
mortally afraid of caterpillars. These narcissistic disappointments
in the mother (and father too), if gradual, lead the child gently to
relinquish his magical and grandiose ideas of himself and the
world and to accept a more workable, if somewhat duller, view of
the universe. Later modifications of the ego ideal will occur
through the influence of teachers, friends, colleagues, and other
admired figures, although the early identification with the parents
underlies all later forms of the ego ideal. In the most fortunate
cases, reality only gradually breaks down the grandiose primitive
ego ideal and replaces it with more realistically attainable aspira-
tions and goals.
The path to mature self-esteem hardly ever runs smooth, how-
ever, and most of us are left with some degree of unresolved
narcissism. Two major kinds of disturbances interfere with the
development of normal and realistic self-esteem. The first (and
most severe) occurs when the child's early idealization of his
mother is ruptured t r a u m a t i c a l l y - f o r example, if she dies, aban-
dons him, or is chronically depressed and cannot respond to him.
Then he will not have the ego strength needed for normal develop-
ment and instead clings desperately to the illusion of his original
omnipotence. Needless to say, the illusion is extremely brittle and
subject to terrifying collapses under pressure. The other common
type of disturbance is the occurrence of traumatic blows to one's
self-esteem in later life, which may cause regression to an earlier,
more narcissistic ego ideal. The two possibilities are, of course, not
mutually exclusive. In both cases the narcissistic illusion is used
as a defence against feelings of weakness and inferiority. Any
puncturing of this illusion (that the self is omnipotent and the
20 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

u n i v e r s e is u n d e r its c o n t r o l ) b y t h e i n t r u s i o n of r e a l i t y p r o v o k e s in
h i m a v i o l e n t f u r y t h a t p s y c h o a n a l y s t s label '~narcissistic rage."
All degrees of t h i s p h e n o m e n o n m a y be observed in e v e r y d a y life,
f r o m t h e c h i l d i s h w r a t h of a g r o w n m a n w h o k i c k s a n d curses some
i n a n i m a t e object t h a t h a s crossed h i m (be it tricycle, t e n n i s rac-
quet, or q u a d r a n t ) , to t h e i m p l a c a b l e cosmic v e n g e a n c e of a n A h a b
a g a i n s t a u n i v e r s e t h a t he perceives as i n s c r u t a b l e , malicious, a n d
o u t of his control. T h e narcissistic i n j u r y (that is, t h e t r a u m a t i c
blow to one's self-esteem) is e x p e r i e n c e d as a t h r e a t to t h e intact-
ness or i n t e g r i t y of t h e self. T h e p r o t o t y p e of t h e narcissistic i n j u r y
is t h e t h r e a t of c a s t r a t i o n , a l t h o u g h t h i s t e r m m u s t be u n d e r s t o o d
in a b r o a d l y symbolic sense. I n Moby-Dick, t h e w h a l e d e v o u r s
A h a b ' s leg, w h i c h is a b o u t as close as Melville could come to
c a s t r a t i o n a n d still be symbolic. I n case we h a d m i s s e d t h e point,
Melville t h e n c o n s t r u c t s a f u r t h e r i n c i d e n t in w h i c h A h a b ' s artifi-
cial leg (made, significantly, of w h a l e b o n e ) splinters, inflicting a
g r o i n injury.
H e i n z K o h u t , t h e p s y c h o a n a l y s t w h o h a s c o n t r i b u t e d t h e m o s t to
o u r p r e s e n t u n d e r s t a n d i n g of n a r c i s s i s m , recognized ~Melville's
g r e a t Moby-Dick"as a n u n s u r p a s s e d fictional v e r s i o n of ~the insa-
tiable s e a r c h for r e v e n g e after a narcissistic injury," a n d saw Cap-
t a i n A h a b as a m a n ~'in t h e grip of i n t e r m i n a b l e narcissistic rage"
(12:362). K o h u t m a k e s no f u r t h e r direct reference to Melville, b u t
his discussion of narcissistic r a g e fully applies to Ahab:

The need for revenge, for righting a wrong, for undoing a hurt by
whatever means, and a deeply anchored, unrelenting compulsion in
the pursuit of all these aims which gives no rest to those who have
suffered a narcissistic i n j u r y - t h e s e are features which are charac-
teristic for the phenomenon of narcissistic rage in all its forms and
which set it apart from other kinds of aggression. (12:380)

A h a b ' s sleepless v e n g e a n c e fits t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n in every detail.

B u t t h e r e is e v e n a f u r t h e r t w i s t of p a t h o l o g y t h a t tallies w i t h
A h a b ' s m o n o m a n i a . K o h u t continues:

The existence of heightened sadism, the adoption of a policy of

preventive attack, the need for revenge, and the desire to turn a
passive experience into an active one, do not, however, fully account
for some of the most characteristic features of narcissistic rage. In
SUSAN K. DYER 21

its typical forms there is utter disregard for reasonable limitations

and a boundless wish to redress an injury and to obtain revenge. The
irrationality of the vengeful attitude becomes even more frighten-
ing in view of the fact t h a t - i n narcissistic personalities as in the
p a r a n o i a c - t h e reasoning capacity, while totally under the domina-
tion and in the service of the over-riding emotion, is often not only
intact but even sharpened. (12:381-82)

T h i s p a s s a g e accords w i t h Melville's d e s c r i p t i o n of A h a b ' s mono-

m a n i a in Moby-Dick:

Ahab's full lunacy subsided not, but deepeningly contrac-

ted . . . . But, as in his narrow-flowing monomania, not one jot of
Ahab's broad madness had been left behind; so in that broad mad-
ness, not one jot of his great natural intellect had perished. That
before living agent, now became the living instrument. If such a
furious trope may stand, his special lunacy stormed his general
sanity, and carried it . . . . Now, in his heart, Ahab had some glimpse
of this, namely: all my means are sane, my motive and my object
mad. (2:161)

A h a b ' s g r e a t i n t e l l e c t h a s n o t p e r i s h e d , b u t r a t h e r h a s b e e n har-
n e s s e d to serve his i n s a n e a m b i t i o n .
T h e e x t e n t of A h a b ' s n a r c i s s i s m a n d t h e i n t e n s i t y of his narcis-
sistic r a g e w o u l d l e a d a p s y c h i a t r i s t to look for gross d i s t u r b a n c e s
in t h e m o t h e r - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p in t h e first y e a r of life. It will be
j u s t i f i a b l y objected t h a t in A h a b Melville w a s c r e a t i n g a fictional
c h a r a c t e r , n o t r e p o r t i n g a case history. A n d yet, oddly e n o u g h , we
are g i v e n precisely t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t A h a b ' s e a r l y life w h e n
C a p t a i n P e l e g tells I s h m a e l of A h a b ' s '~crazy, w i d o w e d m o t h e r ,
w h o died w h e n h e w a s only a t w e l v e - m o n t h old" (2:77). As F r e u d
f r e q u e n t l y p o i n t e d out, it is n o t u n u s u a l for a n a r t i s t of Melville's
g e n i u s to g r a s p i n t u i t i v e l y t h e psychological l i n k a g e s t h a t science
c a n only p a i n s t a k i n g l y uncover.
O n e of t h e m o s t c r i p p l i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of n a r c i s s i s m is t h e
narcissist's i n a b i l i t y to e x p e r i e n c e m a t u r e love for a n o t h e r h u m a n
being. So i n v o l v e d is A h a b w i t h his self-centered r e v e n g e t h a t h e
a b a n d o n s wife a n d child, rejects S t a r b u c k ' s c o m p a s s i o n w h e n he
n e e d s it t h e most, a n d e v e n fails to care r e s p o n s i b l y for t h e h a p l e s s
cabin boy, Pip. T h e full i m p a c t of his i n a b i l i t y to love blasts h i m in
t h e v e r y j a w s of d e a t h , w h e n h e cries, '~Oh, lonely d e a t h on lonely
22 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

life!" (2:468) His is the inevitable fate of the narcissist, who c a n n o t

relate in meaningful ways to his fellow men.
The ways in which Ahab does relate to others are typical of the
narcissistic stance. Borrowed directly from the Greek myth is the
psychological phenomenon of the ~mirroring" experience. As Nar-
cissus gazes lovingly at his own image in the water (and eventually
drowns in trying to embrace it), so the narcissist sees only himself
reflected in the universe and in other people. This narcissistic trait
in Ahab is strikingly represented in ~'The Doubloon," where Ahab's
grandiosity is reflected in the coin that he both offers and collects as
reward for sighting Moby Dick. Ahab soliloquizes:

~'There's something ever egotistical in mountaintops and towers,

and all other grand and lofty things; look here,-three peaks as
proud as Lucifer. The firm tower, that is Ahab; the courageous, the
undaunted, and victorious fowl, that, too, is Ahab; all are Ahab; and
this round gold is but the image of the rounder globe, which, like a
magician's glass, to each and every man in turn but mirrors back his
own mysterious self." (2:359)

Ahab's experience of the Narcissus paradigm and a foreshadow-

ing of his death by drowning are delineated in the chapter called
~The Symphony":

Slowly crossing the deck from the scuttle, Ahab leaned over the side,
and watched how his shadow in the water sank and sank to his gaze,
the more and the more that he strove to pierce the profundity. (2:443)

The narcissistic ~mirroring" experience is evident in Ahab's rela-

tion to Moby Dick as well. The most important object in the world
for Ahab is the White Whale, and in subtle ways Melville reveals
the likenesses between the pursuer and the pursued. Moby Dick's
two most prominent features are ~a peculiar snow-white wrinkled
forehead, and a high, pyramidical white hump" (2:159). In '~Queen
Mab," Stubb refers repeatedly to Ahab as a ~pyramid," and in a
later chapter an elaborate metaphor is devoted to the wrinkles on
Ahab's forehead:

The heavy pewter lamp suspended in chains over his head, continu-
ally rocked with the motion of the ship, and for ever threw shifting
SUSAN K. DYER 23

gleams and shadows of lines upon his wrinkled brow, till it almost
seemed that while he himself was marking out lines and courses on
the wrinkled charts, some invisible pencil was also tracing lines and
courses upon the deeply marked chart of his forehead. (2:171)

Finally, the whale has reaped and presumably swallowed Ahab's

leg, while Ahab retaliates by wearing a bone from the jaw of a
sperm whale in its place, so that they have, in effect, each incorpo-
rated a part of the other. Insofar as Ahab and Moby Dick do
resemble one another, the final catastrophe of the book closely
parallels the Narcissus m y t h - t h e hero drowning in the embrace of
his own image.
The narcissist's chief mode of interaction with his fellow men is
t h a t of exploitation. The narcissistic character sees other h u m a n
beings not as individuals in their own right, but as extensions of
himself, as tools to be manipulated for his own ends. The idea that
other men might have their own needs and thoughts and ambi-
tions apart from his is inconceivable to him. Thus Ahab takes a
contemptuously mechanical view of his crew: ~My one cogged cir-
cle fits into all their various wheels, and they revolve. Or, if you
will, like so m a n y anthills of powder, they all stand before me; and
I their match" (2:147). Ishmael echoes Ahab's mechanical view of
other men with tongue in cheek: '~To accomplish his object Ahab
must use tools; and of all tools used in the shadow of the moon, men
are most apt to get out of order" (2:183). Ahab sees his crew quite
literally as extensions of himself, exploiting t h e m ruthlessly for
his own mad purpose. In the fury of the chase he cries: "Ye are not
other men, but my arms and my legs; and so obey me" (2:465). So
also, in each of the gams, Ahab's interest in the other ship's
captain extends only so far as that captain can contribute informa-
tion about Moby Dick. When t h a t function is filled, the man, for
Ahab, ceases to exist.
Interestingly, the narcissist is often successful in bending others
to his will. Perhaps because he represents the promise of an impos-
sible ideal, he exerts a power of personality over other men to
which they all too willingly submit. Mass movements under the
leadership of a charismatic figure are often of this type. Ahab
exhibits extraordinary power over his m e n in the "Quarter-deck"
24 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

a n d "Candles" chapters, as well as t h r o u g h o u t t h e three-day chase

of Moby Dick. A specific example is Ahab's power over his mates:

It seemed as though, by some nameless, interior volition, he would

fain have shocked into them the same fiery emotion accumulated
within the Leyden jar of his own magnetic life. The three mates
quailed before his strong, sustained, and mystic aspect. (2:145-46)

At a l a t e r point, A h a b is said to h a v e his m a g n e t on Starbuck's

brain. Ahab's c h a r i s m a t i c influence over his crew is best described
in a passage t a k e n from t h e h e a r t of the chase:

They were one man, not thirty . . . . All the individualities of the
crew, this man's valor, that man's fear; guilt and guiltlessness, all
varieties were welded into oneness, and were all directed to that
fatal goal which Ahab their one lord and keel did point to. (2:454-55)

At t h e core of the narcissist's c h a r a c t e r is his grandiosity, his

feeling of omnipotence, w h a t Melville c a l l e d - r e f e r r i n g to A h a b -
"his fatal pride" (2:425). This illusion is t h r e a t e n e d at every t u r n
by reality, a n d t h u s the sense of invincibility a n d control is coun-
t e r p o i n t e d by private u n c e r t a i n t y a n d r a g e at his own limitations
and at the imperfections of the universe. A h a b displays such os-
cillations of mood t h r o u g h o u t the novel.
P l i n l i m m o n ' s p a m p h l e t , analyzed in psychoanalytic terms, m a y
be seen as a s t a t e m e n t of the opposition of t h e r e a l i t y principle to
t h e u n r e a l i s t i c a n d narcissistic ego ideal. P l i n l i m m o n cites specifi-
cally t h e injunctions of C h r i s t i a n i t y - " T u r n the left c h e e k if t h e
r i g h t is smitten"; "Give all t h o u h a s t to the p o o r " - a s examples of
a n ideal of the self t h a t is too h i g h to be h u m a n l y attainable. If
rigidly p u r s u e d in the real world, t h e y can only lead to suffering,
i n s a n i t y and death. As a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of t h e r e a l i t y principle, it
is easy to see w h y P l i n l i m m o n has been t r e a t e d w i t h such
hostility by t h e critics. P l i n l i m m o n ' s a t t a c k on the unrealistic
d e m a n d s of C h r i s t i a n i t y in a world of m e n finds a n i n t r i g u i n g
parallel in S i g m u n d Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents.
T h e r e is no evidence t h a t F r e u d ever r e a d Pierre, a n d it is h i g h l y
u n l i k e l y t h a t he did, b u t at several points he sounds surprisingly
like this fictional Welsh philosopher. I n this 1930 essay, F r e u d
SUSAN K. DYER 25

a r g u e d t h a t t h e C h r i s t i a n i n j u n c t i o n to ~Love t h y n e i g h b o r as
t h y s e l f ' is h u m a n l y impossible, g i v e n t h e psychological m a k e - u p
of t h e h u m a n m i n d :

The commandment, ~Love thy neighbour as thyself," is the strongest

defence against h u m a n aggressiveness and an excellent example of
the unpsychological proceedings of the cultural super-ego. The com-
m a n d m e n t is impossible to fulfill; such an enormous inflation of
love, can only lower its value, not get rid of the difficulty. Civiliza-
tion pays no attention to all this; it merely admonishes us that the
harder it is to obey the precept the more meritorious it is to do so.
But anyone who follows such a precept in present-day civilization
only puts himself at a disadvantage vis-a-vis the person who disre-
gards it. (4:143)

Or, as P l i n l i m m o n r e m a r k s , '~If h e seek to r e g u l a t e his o w n daily

c o n d u c t by it h e will b u t a r r a y all m e n ' s e a r t h l y t i m e k e e p e r s
a g a i n s t h i m " (13:212). U s e d as a ~defence a g a i n s t h u m a n aggres-
siveness," t h e c o m m a n d m e n t to love one's n e i g h b o r is a close
e q u i v a l e n t to P l i n l i m m o n ' s e x a m p l e of t u r n i n g t h e o t h e r cheek.
P l i n l i m m o n ' s o t h e r e x a m p l e , g i v i n g all one h a s to t h e poor, is also
d e a l t w i t h in F r e u d ' s essay. D i s c u s s i n g t h e c o m m u n i s t ideal of
a b o l i s h i n g all p r i v a t e p r o p e r t y , F r e u d s t a t e s t h a t a l t h o u g h h e is
n o t qualified to p a s s j u d g m e n t on its economic feasibility, ~the
psychological p r e m i s e s on w h i c h t h e s y s t e m is b a s e d are a n u n t e n -
able illusion" (4:113), or, as P l i n l i m m o n m o r e b l u n t l y p u t s it, ~'No
a v e r a g e son of m a n e v e r did s u c h a t h i n g . " F r e u d ' s e s t i m a t e of t h e
possible success of e n f o r c i n g G r e e n w i c h t i m e on t h e C h i n e s e
s o u n d s m u c h like P l i n l i m m o n ' s :

Civilization has to use its utmost efforts in order to set limits to

man's aggressive instincts and to hold the manifestations of t h e m in
check . . . . Hence the ideal's commandment to love one's neighbour
as oneself-a commandment which is really justified by the fact that
nothing else runs so strongly counter to the original nature of man.
In spite of every effort, these endeavours of civilization have not so
far achieved very much. (4:112)

P l i n l i m m o n cites h i s t o r i c a l e v i d e n c e to s h o w t h e failure a n d im-

p r a c t i c a b i l i t y of C h r i s t i a n d o c t r i n e in t h e world of m e n :
26 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

But if any man say, that such a doctrine as this I lay down is false, is
impious; I would charitably refer that man to the history of Chris-
tendom for the last 1800 years; and ask him, whether, in spite of all
the maxims of Christ, that history is not just as full of blood,
violence, wrong, and iniquity of every kind, as any previous portion
of the world's story? (13:215)

In like m a n n e r , F r e u d catalogues several portions of t h e world's

story to m a k e precisely t h e s a m e point:

Homo homini lupus. [~Man is a wolf to man."] Who, in the face of all
his experience of life and of history, will have the courage to dispute
this assertion?... Anyone who calls to mind the atrocities commit-
ted during the racial migrations or the invasions of the Huns, or by
the people known as Mongols under Jenghiz Khan and Tamerlane,
or at the capture of Jerusalem by the pious Crusaders, or even,
indeed, the horrors of the recent World W a r - a n y o n e who calls these
things to mind will have to bow humbly before the truth of this
view. (4:111-12)

E v e n t s occurring since t h e s e r e m a r k s w e r e m a d e in 1930 h a v e not

done a n y t h i n g to r e v e r s e this j u d g m e n t .
Both F r e u d a n d P l i n l i m m o n u l t i m a t e l y conclude t h a t m a n ' s
psyche is not so c o n s t i t u t e d t h a t ~'Love t h y n e i g h b o r as thyself,"
t a k e n literally, could be e i t h e r a helpful or a m e a n i n g f u l impera-
tive. Is m a n t h e n c o n d e m n e d to a life of u n r e d e e m e d vice a n d
wickedness? N e i t h e r of t h e m s e e m e d to t h i n k so. P l i n l i m m o n rec-
o m m e n d s a ~virtuous expediency" as ~the h i g h e s t desirable or
a t t a i n a b l e e a r t h l y excellence for t h e m a s s of m e n " a n d ~the only
e a r t h l y excellence t h a t t h e i r C r e a t o r i n t e n d e d for t h e m " (13:214).
P l i n l i m m o n insists t h a t this v i r t u o u s expediency is not t h e equiva-
l e n t of d o w n r i g h t wickedness, a n d he gives n u m e r o u s e x a m p l e s of
h u m a n l y a t t a i n a b l e virtues:

Nevertheless, if a man gives with a certain self-considerate gener-

osity to the poor; abstains from doing downright ill to any man; does
his convenient best in a general way to do good to his whole race;
takes watchful loving care of his wife and children, relatives, and
friends; is perfectly tolerant to all other men's opinions, whatever
they may be; is an honest dealer, an honest citizen, and all that; and
more especially if he believe that there is a God for infidels, as well
SUSAN K. DYER 27

as for believers, and acts upon that belief; then, though such a man
falls infinitely short of the chronometrical standard, though all his
actions are entirely horologic;-yet such a man need never lastingly
despond, because he is sometimes guilty of some minor offense:-
hasty words, impulsively returning a blow, fits of domestic petu-
lance, selfish enjoyment of a glass of wine while he knows there are
those around him who lack a loaf of bread. I say he need never
lastingly despond on account of his perpetual liability to these
things; because not to do them, and their like, would be to be an
angel, a chronometer; whereas, he is a man and a horologe. (13:214)

The best efforts of psychoanalysis bear Plinlimmon's wisdom out.

Man's self-esteem depends upon the ability of his actual self to
fulfill the demands of his ideal self. If his ego ideal is impossibly
high, he will give up trying in despair, or retreat into daydreams of
power and glory, or worse still into psychotic delusions of gran-
deur. One possible solution to this problem is to modify the de-
mands of the ego ideal into more realistically attainable ambitions
and goals. Although this cannot be accomplished merely by a
conscious decision, it may indeed be achieved in some degree by
psychotherapy or through significant life experiences. Such an
evolution of the ego ideal results in what Heinz Kohut calls ~trans-
formations of narcissism"-wisdom, tolerance, compassion, recog-
nition of limitations, and the acceptance of the finiteness of h u m a n
life; in short, h u m a n and earthly virtues quite similar to those
described by Plinlimmon in the passage just quoted above.
Among Melville's protagonists Captain Vere in Billy B u d d most
clearly exemplifies these ~'transformations of narcissism," or horol-
ogical virtues. His capacity for empathy enables him to see
through the villain Claggart's deceit and to comprehend Billy's
speech impediment without previous knowledge of either, and
thus contributes to his accurate and just estimate of each man's
essential character. His earthly wisdom and h u m a n compassion
are evident throughout. Unlike Ahab, Vere accepts the universe as
ultimately unknowable, while making responsible decisions and
h u m a n commitments in the limited context of war and the Mutiny
Act-Melville's terse metaphor for the h u m a n condition.
Captain Vere is not heroic in the grand style of Admiral Nelson,
but he is Melville's most genuinely mature character. That he is a
tragic figure is not due to any hubris or immaturity of his own, but,
28 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

as Melville saw it, to the inescapable realities of the h u m a n condi-

tion. Melville's expression of the conflict t h a t he saw underlying
civilization and the n a t u r e of m a n in Billy Budd is in accord with
the following formulation of Freud's:

A good part of the struggles of mankind centre round the single task
of finding an expedient accommodation-one, that is, that will bring
happiness-between this claim of the individual and the cultural
claims of the group; and one of the problems that touches the fate of
humanity is whether such an accommodation can be reached by
means of some particular form of civilization or whether this conflict
is irreconcilable. (4:96)

In the ha rsh light of day, we are prepared to admit t h a t Ahab is

mad and that Billy Budd is too good for this world, but if we were
not somehow drawn to the high aspirations which they personify,
Melville's novels would not have the powerful appeal t h a t they do.
For all that our personal ego ideals are forever above and beyond
us, t h a t by their very n a t u r e we may never completely achieve or
become them, yet they do represent the highest and the best t h a t is
in us, and our lives attain value in our own eyes insofar as we
strive towards them. Thus Melville, writing in failure and obscu-
rity in his later years, yet had before hi m on his desk a scrap of
paper on which was written: ~'Keep true to the dreams of thy
y o u t h " - a n aphoristic expression of man's endless longing for his
earliest ideals and inspirations. That those ideals r e m a i n an un-
graspable phantom even to the highest genius is poignantly at-
tested in a passage where Melville calls what m a n y today would
consider the greatest book in American literature, '%ut a draught"
of the real book, ~nay, but the dr a ught of a draught." The Moby-
Dick of his imagination was far beyond a n y t h i n g h u m a n l y achiev-
able. And Melville went on to lament, "Oh, Time, Strength, Cash,
and Patience!" (2:128)-the inevitable scarcities of which consti-
tute the essential limitations of h u m a n life: its finiteness and its
inadequacy to the grand scale of our aspirations.
This psychoanalytic interpretation of Plinlimmon's theme can-
not possibly claim to be the only, or even the ~'lowest" layer (to
quote Ahab) of Melville's fiction. It is not even the only psychologi-
cal layer. It makes no claim to reduce all other layers-philosophi-
cal, religious, a r t i s t i c - t o itself. But it is a layer which I believe
SUSAN K. DYER 29

enriches our u n d e r s t a n d i n g of Melville, for it relates Ahab's quest

for t h e W h i t e Whale, Pierre's search for T r u t h , and t h e ideal
m a n h o o d of Billy Budd, to a f u n d a m e n t a l psychological experience
c o m m o n to all men.
I n Fiction and the Unconscious, Simon O. Lesser suggests that,
as a vehicle for fulfilling our h i g h e s t ~ e a m s a n d ambitions, hu-
m a n life is inevitably disappointing (14). We t e n d to b l a m e our own
failures on i n d i v i d u a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s - l a c k of t i m e a n d money, the
w r o n g m o m e n t in history, a n u n s y m p a t h e t i c spouse. We are un-
willing to face the possibility t h a t life itself m a y be i n a d e q u a t e .
B u t as Otto K e r n b e r g observes:

If we consider that throughout an ordinary life span most narcissis-

tic gratifications occur in adolescence and early adulthood, and that
even though narcissistic triumphs and gratifications are achieved
throughout adulthood, the individual must eventually face the basic
conflicts around aging, chronic illness, physical and mental limita-
tions, and above all, separations, loss, and loneliness-then we must
conclude that the eventual confrontation of the grandiose self with
the frail, limited and transitory nature of human life is unavoidable.
(15)

M a n y novels are a i m e d at h e l p i n g us to escape this uncomfortable

reality, but Melville's fiction confronts it steadily, w i t h courage,
insight, a n d compassion. I n its grasp of the tragic opposition be-
t w e e n m a n ' s e a r t h b o u n d limitations and his sky-assaulting aspira-
tions, Melville's art anticipates i m a g i n a t i v e l y the more systematic
studies of narcissism by psychoanalysts in our own century.

REFERENCES

1. Kohut H: The Analysis of the Self. New York, International Universities Press, 1971.
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W. Norton & Co., 1967.
3. Arvin N: Herman Melville. New York, William Sloan Associates, 1950.
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Strachey J. London, Hogarth Press, 1961.
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143. Edited by Strachey J. London, Hogarth Press, 1955.
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Child 17:42-81, 1962.
30 PSYCHIATRIC QUARTERLY

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