Israel Potter: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 18:32, 15 November 2013

Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile is a novel by Herman Melville published in installments in Putnam's Monthly Magazine from July 1854 through March 1855, in book form by George Palmer Putnam in New York in March 1855, and in a pirated edition by George Routledge in London in May 1855. It is loosely based on a pamphlet (108-page) autobiography that Melville acquired in the 1840s, Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter (Providence, Rhode Island, 1824).

At about 60,000 words, the novel is much shorter than the major novels but significantly longer than two of Melville's greatest stories, "Bartleby the Scrivener" and "Benito Cereno", which were written during the same period and included the following year in The Piazza Tales. It followed the disastrous critical and commercial failure of his previous novel, Pierre: or, The Ambiguities. Melville disliked the finished work, and claimed that he wrote it as quickly as possible for the money. Marred by a passive, colorless and astonishingly unlucky hero and a depressingly anti-climactic ending, this novel of the American Revolution was nevertheless a total commercial failure. In recent years, however, many critics have attempted to argue that the novel shows Melville comfortable in his narrative powers and indulging his considerable talents for humor, sly characterization, episodic action, and unsettling understatement. It is one of his easiest books to read, which is all the more surprising in that it was followed by perhaps his most difficult prose work, The Confidence-Man, in 1857.

Factual basis

Israel Potter (1754–1826) was a real person born in Cranston, Rhode Island. According to his own account, a memoir titled The Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter (published 1824), he had been a veteran of the Battle of Bunker Hill, a sailor in the Revolutionary navy, a prisoner of the British, an escapee in England, a secret agent and courier in France, and a 45-year exile from his native land as a laborer, pauper, and peddler in London. Melville's plot combines a number of Potter's actual encounters—King George III, Horne Tooke, and Benjamin Franklin—with some he never had—Ethan Allen and John Paul Jones.

Plot summary

When Israel Potter leaves his plow to fight in the American Revolution, he's immediately thrown into the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he receives multiple wounds. However, this does not deter him, and after hearing a rousing speech by General George Washington, he volunteers for further duty, this time at sea, where more ill fortune awaits him. Israel is captured by the British Navy and taken to England. Yet, he makes his escape, and this triggers a series of extraordinary events and meetings with remarkable people. Along the way, Israel encounters King George III, who takes a liking to the Yankee rebel and shelters him in Kew Gardens; Benjamin Franklin, who presses Israel into service as a spy; John Paul Jones, who invites Israel to join his crew aboard The Ranger; and Ethan Allen, whom Israel attempts to free from a British prison. Throughout these adventures, Israel Potter acquits himself bravely, but his patriotic valor does not bring him any closer to his dream of returning to America. After the war, Israel finds himself in London, where he descends into poverty. Finally, fifty years after he left his plough, he makes his way back to his beloved Berkshires. However, few things remain the same. Soon, Israel fades out of being, his name out of memory, and he dies on the same day the oldest oak on his native lands is blown down.

External links

Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile Online version.
Online text. Since this version leaves out the dedication—"To the Bunker Hill Monument"—it could be derived from the pirated British edition.
Online edition

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 '''''Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile''''' is a novel by [[Herman Melville]] published in installments in ''[[Putnam's Magazine|Putnam's Monthly Magazine]]'' from July 1854 through March 1855, in book form by [[George Palmer Putnam]] in New York in March 1855, and in a pirated edition by [[George Routledge]] in London in May 1855. It is loosely based on a pamphlet (108-page) autobiography that Melville acquired in the 1840s, ''Life and Remarkable Adventures of Israel R. Potter'' (Providence, Rhode Island, 1824).
-At about 60,000 words, the novel is much shorter than the major novels but significantly longer than two of Melville's greatest stories, "[[Bartleby the Scrivener]]" and "[[Benito Cereno]]", which were written during the same period and included the following year in ''[[The Piazza Tales]]''. It followed the disastrous critical and commercial failure of his previous novel, ''[[Pierre: or, The Ambiguities]]''. Melville hated this book. He claimed that he wrote it as quickly as possible for the money. Marred by a passive, colorless and astonishingly unlucky hero and a depressing conclusion, this novel of the American Revolution was also a resounding flop, and a total commercial failure. In recent years, however, many critics have attempted to argue that the novel shows Melville comfortable in his narrative powers and indulging his considerable talents for humor, sly characterization, episodic action, and unsettling understatement. It is one of his easiest books to read, which is all the more surprising in that it was followed by perhaps his most difficult prose work, ''[[The Confidence-Man]]'', in 1857.
+At about 60,000 words, the novel is much shorter than the major novels but significantly longer than two of Melville's greatest stories, "[[Bartleby the Scrivener]]" and "[[Benito Cereno]]", which were written during the same period and included the following year in ''[[The Piazza Tales]]''. It followed the disastrous critical and commercial failure of his previous novel, ''[[Pierre: or, The Ambiguities]]''. Melville disliked the finished work, and claimed that he wrote it as quickly as possible for the money. Marred by a passive, colorless and astonishingly unlucky hero and a depressingly anti-climactic ending, this novel of the American Revolution was nevertheless a total commercial failure. In recent years, however, many critics have attempted to argue that the novel shows Melville comfortable in his narrative powers and indulging his considerable talents for humor, sly characterization, episodic action, and unsettling understatement. It is one of his easiest books to read, which is all the more surprising in that it was followed by perhaps his most difficult prose work, ''[[The Confidence-Man]]'', in 1857.
 ==Factual basis==