The Short Story by Herman Melville, What Redburn Saw in Lancelot S Hey Best Exemplifies

The short story by Herman Melville, “What Redburn saw in Lancelot’s Hey” best exemplifies the American belief of God’s chosen people. The early American settlers, specifically the Puritans of New England, believed they were chosen by God to conquer and settle the new land. Eventually the term “Zion on the Hill” was accepted to show the belief that Americans would create God’s kingdom on earth. Melville’s story of a sailor who watches a family slowly starve to death shows this belief.

Redburn is a visitor in a town when he comes across a family of four: three young children and a mother. They are homeless, living in a “vault” under the street. Redburn is concerned about the obviously emaciated forms, and later is horrified when he views the youngest child-a dead baby. When Redburn tries to find help for the family he is met with rejection. He is told by a policeman that “it is not his street”, and by another that the family deserved their punishment as the mother is unmarried with children (a sin in the Puritanical views of the time). In the end the family dies, leaving Redburn to contemplate God’s kingdom where people are allowed to die.

Melville’s point is that in order to be a “Zion on the Hill” we must improve how we deal with the poor and starving. Truly God’s chosen people cannot allow others to die in the face of biblical teachings: thou shall not kill, love thy neighbor as yourself. Indeed, the American views of the time are identical to the Europeans who had little time or help for the poor. In order to create a God-like kingdom, The family should have been saved. In fact, the family should never have been allowed to sink to such a level. In God’s world, all should have food and shelter. The harsh lesson is that American have work to do to complete the “Zion on the Hill”.

“What Redburn saw in Lancelot’s Hey” best points out the failures in the American quest to create God’s kingdom on earth.