For a demagogue with the skills of Donald Trump, check out Captain Ahab. Both know how to get people to act against their best interests.
Tag Archives: Herman Melville
Ahab & Trump, Two Master Demagogues
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Capitol insurrection, demagoguery, Donald Trump, Moby Dick Comments closed
Parental Despair over Trump’s Orphans
Spiritual Sunday I don’t throw around the word “evil” lightly, but the Trump administration deliberately and systematically tearing children away from their asylum-seeking parents was evil. Although some of the children were still breastfeeding, Trump and his minions didn’t care enough to ensure the families could be reunited, which means that he may have created […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged asylum seekers, Donald Trump, family separation practices, Moby Dick, slaughter of the innocents Comments closed
Starbucks Chose Wrong Moby Dick Name
Starbucks took its name from the first mate in “Moby Dick.” The third mate, however, would have been a better fit.
Which Literary Conman Is Trump?
To understand Trump as conman, I compare him to the King and the Duke, Mac the Knife, Melville’s Confidence Man, Satan & Iago.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beggar's Opera, Confidence Man, conmen, Donald Trump, Huckleberry Finn, John Gay, John Milton, Mark Twain, Othello, Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare Comments closed
How I Make Literary Connections
Wednesday A friend the other day asked where my ideas come from, especially when I apply a passage from one century to incidents in another. Yesterday, for instance, I said that Trump confidant Roger Stone reminded me of a passage in Herman Melville’s Confidence Man. So how did that enter my head? To answer, let […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged blogging, Confidence Man, Geoffrey Chaucer, Restoration comedies, Twelfth Night, Wife of Bath, William Shakespeare Comments closed
How Deep Is Roger Stone’s Act?
Tuesday What are we to make of longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone’s flamboyant behavior following his arrest by Special Counselor Robert Mueller for lying to Congress about his contacts with Wikileaks? I think back to a passage from Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man that I applied to Trump during the campaign but which applies equally […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Charles Dickens, Confidence Man, Donald Trump, Oliver Twist, Roger Stone Comments closed
Trump’s Enablers Operate as Pilot Fish
Herman Melville’s “Maldive Shark” captures how policy works in the White House. Trump is the shark, his enablers the pilot fish.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Maldive Shark", Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, Trump cabinet members, Trump siblings Comments closed
Does the GOP Love Big Brother?
Do Congressional Republicans flatter Trump Goneril-like out of convenience or do they “love Big Brother”? Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor may hold the key.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Maldive Shark", 1984, Brothers Karamazov, Congressional Republicans, Fyodor Dostoevsky, George Orwell, GOP, GOP Tax Plan, Grand Inquisitor, H. G. Wells, Invisible Man Comments closed
