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mostimportant
literary
worksof the AmericanRenaissance(Emerson's
"History,"Poe's Eureka,Thoreau'sWalden,Melville'sMardiandMobyDick,to namea few),yetformostmodern
readersitis a namethatrequires
an identifying
footnote.
Champollion
wastheFrenchman
whoin 1822decipheredEgyptian
hieroglyphic
writing
withtheaid ofthebilingual
textofthe
Rosetta stone-a discoverythat marked the beginningof modern
Yet surelythatis a pieceofinformation
Egyptology.
thatprovokes
another
question.WhywouldChampollion
be mentioned
in worksseemingly
so remotefromhisachievements
as Thoreau'saccountofa stayat WaldenPond
or Melville'sstoryofthehuntfora whitewhale?ThatEuropeandAmerica,
duringthe period 1800-1850,weresweptby a wave of interestin the
ofEgyptis nowadaysone ofthelesswell-remembered
antiquities
facetsof
19thcentury
history.'
WhenNapoleoninvadedEgyptin 1798,hewasaccomandfifty
from
paniedbya groupofa hundred
scientists
andartists(mostly
theAcademiedesInscriptions)
whosetaskwas theinvestigation
oftheconWiththesurrender
queredterritory.
oftheFrencharmyinEgypt(1801),the
Britishclaimedas spoilsof warall theantiquities
gathered
bytheFrench
scientists.
was theRosettastone,whicharrivedin
Amongtheseantiquities
EnglandinFebruary
1802.
By 1806a soldieroffortune
namedMohammed
Alihadforced
theTurks
*This paperwas deliveredat the 705thmeetingof The JohnsHopkins PhilologicalAssociation.The authorgratefully
acknowledgestheadviceand encouragement
givenhimbyProfessors
Don CameronAllen,Earl Wasserman,LaurenceHolland and Hans Goedickeduringitscomposition.
'Eric Iversen,The Mythof Egyptand itsHieroglyphics
in European Tradition(Copenhagen:
Gec Gad, 1961),pp. 124-45.
104
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himas PashaofEgypt,andduring
to recognize
hislongreignheencouraged
thecompetition
between
inhis
theFrenchandEnglish
agentsd'artoperating
a competition
country,
thatresultedin the flooding
of Europeand then
Americawitheveryshapeand formofEgyptian
In a toneat once
artifact.
Olympianand Yankee,EdwardEverettremarked
in the NorthAmerican
Review(1823),"Since thedaysof theRomans,whoplundered
Egyptof
obelisksand transported
wholecolonnadesof marblepillarsfromItalyto
thismagnificent
kindofrobbery
neverflourished
morethan
Constantinople,
atthepresent
moment."2
AtthetimeEverett
revival
inAmericawasjustbeginwrote,
theEgyptian
ning.In 1823an Egyptian
tothecityofBostonby
sarcophagus
waspresented
a Smyrnamerchant
namedvan Lennep.3In 1826 two mummieswere
at Peale's MuseumandGalleryofFineArtsinNewYork.These
displayed
In 1832
curioslatercameintothepossession
oftheshowman
P. T. Barnum.4
ColonelMendesCohenofBaltimore
returned
fromEgyptwithsixhundred
to establishthe firstprivatecollectionof ancient
and eightyantiquities
Egyptianartifactsin America.5This collection,donatedto The Johns
HopkinsUniversity
in 1884,is stillin existence.6
In thesummer
of 1835an
Englishman
namedChandlerwhowas touringtheUnitedStateswithan
exhibitof mummiesand theirburialparaphernalia
stoppedin Kirtland,
Ohio-at thattimetheheadquarters
of JosephSmithand theLatter-Day
Saints.TheSaintsboughtfromChandler
a groupofartifacts,
amongthema
a late versionof the Book of the Dead and a hypopapyruscontaining
cephalus,a diskplacedundertheheadofa mummy.
The writings
on these
twoobjectsweretranslated
byJosephSmithandpublished
in a smallbook
entitledA Pearl of Great Price. The papyrusand the inscribeddisk
represented,
accordingto the Prophet,a recordbegunby Abrahamand
finished
byJoseph
wheninEgypt.7
At thesametimethatEgyptian
inAmerica,
antiquities
werearriving
the
Egyptianstylein architecture
was changing
the appearanceof American
towns.The styleleftits markon structures
as variousas theWashington
Monument
in New
to theGroveStreetCemetery
(1848-85),theentrance
Haven, and the New York Halls of Justice(1836-38)8-thefamous
"Tombs"whereMelville'sBartleby
diesandofwhichthenarrator
remarks,
2NorthAmericanReview,17 (1823), 233.
3JohnA. Wilson,Signs and WondersUpon Pharoah(Chicago: Univ.ofChicago Press,1964),
p. 37.
4Ibid.
5Ibid.,p. 38.
"The Cohen Collectionis presently
housedin thearchaeologicalmuseumin GilmanHall, The
JohnsHopkinsUniversity.
'Wilson,pp. 37-38.
8Ibid., pp. 36-37.
TheSymboloftheHieroglyphics
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ceded his discovery.Everettin his 1831 article for the North American
characterized
theworkof FatherAthanasiusKircher,themostprolificofthe
17th centurymetaphysicalinterpreters,
as "utterlybaseless" and "laboriouslyabsurd,"addingthat"absurditieslikethesecontinuedto be broached
on thissubject,down to the presentday." Thus, "the astrologicalsymbols,
composingwhatwas called the zodiac of Denderah,have been pronounced
withinthepresentday,a Psalm ofDavid."'5
The moderntraditionof interpreting
the hieroglyphics
as metaphysical
emblems,of whichKircheris perhapsthehighpoint,had begunin 1419with
the discoveryof Hor Apollo's Hieroglyphica,and its continuancethrough
fourcenturieshad made the words"hieroglyphic"and "emblem" synonymous."6Yet, forhardheaded19thcenturygentlemenlike Everett,the relationshipof Kircher'sstyleof exegesisto Champollion'stranslationsseemed
to be that of the fancifulart of interpretation
to the logical scienceof interpretation.
It would be a mistake,however,to thinkthat Champollion's
discoveriestoppledthe school of metaphysicalinterpretation.
It continued,
oftenusingmisreadings
of Champollion'sworkas justification
foritsefforts.
The tensionbetweenthesetwokindsofinterpretation
significantly
influenced
American literatureduringthe firsthalf of the 19th century.It is that
influence
whichI wishto trace,duringthecourseofthisessay,intheworksof
Emerson,Thoreau,Hawthorneand Melville.
In the process of decipheringthe hieroglyphics,
Champollionhad, of
necessity,to examinetherelationship
betweena signand whata signstands
for.He foundthatthe hieroglyphics
werea compositewriting,
thatis, that
threedifferent
typesof signswereused at thesame timein anygiveninscription.In thewordsof theEdinburghreviewer,
thesetypeswere:" 1.figurative
characters,whichliterallyrepresented
the object meantto be expressed;2.
symbolic,tropic,or aenigmaticcharacters,whichexpressedan idea by the
image of a physicalobjecthavingan analogytrueor false,director indirect,
near or remote,withthe idea to be expressed;and 3. phoneticcharacters,
which,by the images of physicalobjects,represented
soundsmerely."'7Of
thislasttype,J.G. H. Greppoin hisEssay on theHieroglyphic
SystemofM.
Champollion (Paris, 1829) noted that "phonetic signs form the most
considerablepartofall kindsof Egyptiantexts,"and he added:
Theadoption
ofphonetic
signs,(whichmustbe posterior
totheuseofthetwoother
kindsofsigns-theonlyelement
ofprimitive
writing,
as thereis reasontobelieve),
wouldnotdestroy
thehomogeneousness
ofthewriting
wheretheywereemployed.
The threekindsof hieroglyphic
signs,differing
onlyin theirmodeofexpression,
werealikein regardto theirmaterial
forms;and theyall presented
imagesof
5NorthA mericanReview,32 (183 1), 101.
6See Don CameronAllen,Mysteriously
Meant (Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsPress,1970),pp.
107-33:and LiselotteDieckmann,Hieroglyphics
(St. Louis: WashingtonUniv.Press,1970).
"EdinburghReview,45 (1826-27), 144-45.
TheSymboloftheHieroglyphics
107
physical
objectsthatweredesigned
either
to represent
thoseobjectsproperly,
orto
recallsymbolically
ideasrelatedto theobjects,or lastly,to express
phonetically
articulations
whichweretheelements
ofthewordsin thespokenlanguage.The
figurative
signswereemployed
forthenotation
ofthemostsimpleideas,thoseof
sensibleobjects;thesymbolical
signsdenotedverysimpleabstract
ideas;andthe
phonetic
characters
served
toexpress
themostcomplicated
ideas,suchas couldnot
be represented
bytheothertwoordersof signs,and couldnotbe rendered
intelligibly,
exceptbymeansof wordswritten
downbythehandin a manner
correspondent
totheirpronunciation.""
Greppo gives formto two importantassumptions:first,that the figurative
and symbolicsignsrepresentan earlier,moreprimitive
stateof hieroglyphic
writingthanthe phoneticsigns,and second,thatthedevelopmentfromthe
figurativeto the phoneticis the movementfromwritingable to present
simple,concreteideas to writingthat can conveycomplex,abstractideas.
This developmentof the phoneticfromthe figurative
involvedin its most
basic formthe use of a signto standnot forthe objectthatit depictedbut
simplyfortheinitialsoundofthename forthatobject.Thus,in Egyptianthe
to
wordforhawkwas ahe, and thesignforhawkcould be used phonetically
representthe sound of the lettera. Put in termsof signand significant,
we
could say thatEgyptianwritingprogressedfroma statein whichtherewas a
necessary,emblematicconnectionbetweena signand whatit standsforto a
state in whichforthe most partthatconnectionhad become arbitraryand
conventional.
Interestingly
enough,such a viewof thedevelopmentof Egyptianwriting
schoolsof
was capable of satisfying
boththemetaphysicaland thescientific
a value
interpretation.
What matteredwas whetherone consideredsimplicity
or complexitya value. The metaphysicalinterpreters
workedin a Christian
traditionthatunderstoodman's presentstateas fallenfroma pristinesimplicity.In his unfallenstateman did not need a complex,abstractlanguage.
He was in such harmonywithhis environment
thathe used thelanguageof
nature,the languageof naturalsigns-that worldof objectscreatedby God
to standas emblemsof spiritualfacts.But sincethefallwas fromsimplicity
to complexity,
thefartherman movedaway fromhis originalstatethemore
complexand involvedhis languagebecameand themoreobscurebecamethe
old emblematicrelationshipbetweena signand what it standsfor.For the
scientific
school,on theotherhand,thedevelopmentof hieroglyphic
writing
could supportan exactlyoppositereading.The movementfroma writing
made up wholly of figurativesigns capable of presentingonly simple,
concreteideas to a writingcomposed largelyof phoneticsignscapable of
themostcomplex,abstractideas demonstrated
bothevolutionand
presenting
progress.The metaphysicaland scientific
interpreters,
then,wouldnot have
8Essay on the HieroglyphicSystemof M. Champollioh,trans.withnotes and illus. Isaac
Stuart(Boston:Perkinsand Marvin,1830),p. 46.
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itscredibility
restedonthefaithofsomelonelyeyewitness,
whobeheldthewonder
through
thecolored,magnifying,
mediumof hisimagination,
and distorting
and
inhisafter-thought.
shapedit moredistinctly
It was,indeed,
a majesticidea,that
intheseawfulhieroglyphics,
onthecope
thedestiny
ofnationsshouldbe revealed,
ofheaven.... Butwhatshallwesay,whenan individual
discovers
a revelation,
addressedto himself
alone,on thesamevastsheetofrecord!In sucha case,itcould
onlybe thesymptom
ofa highly
disordered
mentalstate,whena man,rendered
morbidly
self-contemplative
bylong,intense,
andsecretpain,hadextended
hisegotismoverthewholeexpanseofnature,
untilthefirmament
itself
shouldappearno
morethana fitting
pageforhissoul'shistory
andfate.
We imputeit,therefore,
solelyto thediseasein hisowneyeandheart,thatthe
minister,
looking
upwardto thezenith,
beheldtheretheappearance
ofan immense
letter,-the
letter
A,-markedoutinlinesofdullredlight.Notbutthemeteor
may
haveshownitself
at thatpoint,burning
a veilofcloud;butwithno
duskily
through
suchshapeas hisguilty
imagination
gaveit;or,at least,withso littledefiniteness,
thatanother's
guiltmight
haveseenanother
init.(pp. 188-89)
symbol
The tone of voice in this passage is surelyironic,forwhen Hawthorne
speaks of that disorderedmental state, that morbid self-contemplation
whereinman's egotismextendsitselfoverthe wholeexpanseof natureuntil
eventhefirmament
is "no morethana fitting
page forhis soul's historyand
fate,"he is commenting
on his own conditionas muchas on Dimmesdale's.
The feelingof beingtrappedin the self,the post-Kantianviewthatwhat a
man knowsis not an objectiveexternalworldbut simplythe internalstructureof his ownmindprojecteduponan essentiallyindeterminate
ground,the
sense of the shatteringof all absolutes because of the loss of objective
knowledge-theseare whatthe conceptof the hieroglyphic
emblemevokes
forHawthorne.His remarkthatthemeteor'sshape as it passed throughthe
cloud was of so littledefiniteness
thatanotherman mighthave seen it as an
entirelydifferent
symbolreceivesits fulfillment
on the morningafterthe
scaffoldscene. The old sexton,commenting
on GovernorWinthrop'sdeath
thepreviousnight,says to Dimmesdale,"But did yourreverencehear of the
portentthatwas seenlastnight?A greatredletterin thesky,-the letterA,whichwe interpret
to standforAngel.For, as our good GovernorWinthrop
was made an angelthispast night,it was doubtlessheldfitthatthereshould
be somenoticethereof!"(p. 192).
In essence,it is but a repetition
of themultipleperspectivism
of thenight
scene at the scaffoldthat formsthe novel's conclusion.On the day of the
ElectionSermonwhenDimmesdalehas reachedthe peak of his career,he
once again mountsthe scaffold,thistimeto acknowledgeHesterand Pearl,
to accepthisguilt,and to revealtheletterimprinted
on his chest.It is a scene
thatobviouslycaughtHawthorne'simagination,forit producedsome of his
best writing-a scene whose emotional power sweeps up spectatorsand
reader alike into its climax of revelation,retributionand eleventh-hour
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repentance.And yetthenextchapterbeginswiththedeflating
remark:"After
many days, whentime sufficedforthe people to arrangetheirthoughtsin
referenceto the foregoingscene,therewas morethan one accountof what
had been witnessedon thescaffold"(p. 305). Most of thespectatorstestified
to havingseen a scarletletterimprinted
on theminister'sbreast,butas to its
origintherewerevariousexplanations,all of whichwereconjectural.Some
believedthat the letterwas a self-inflicted
penance,othersthat it was the
resultof Roger Chillingworth's
magic and poisonousdrugs,and stillothers
thatit was themark"of theeveractivetoothof remorse,gnawingfromthe
inmostheartoutwardly."Hawthorneadds, "The readermay choose among
thesetheories"(pp. 305-6). Indeed,therewereeven those who deniedthat
therewas anymarkwhateveron theminister's
breast,nor,theysaid, had his
dyingwordsacknowledgedeven the slightestconnection"withtheguiltfor
which Hester Prynnehad so long worn the scarletletter"(p. 306). They
explainedthat Dimmesdale,realizingthat death was near, had decidedto
make the mannerof his death a parable. "By yieldingup his breathin the
armsofthatfallenwoman,"he meant"to impresson hisadmirersthemighty
and mournfullesson,that,in the view of InfinitePurity,we are sinnersall
alike" (p. 306). Hawthorneobservesthat this versionof the storyis "an
instanceof thatstubbornfidelity
withwhicha man's friends-andespecially
a clergyman's-willsometimesupholdhis character;whenproofs,clear as
the mid-daysunshineon the scarlet letter,establishhim a false and sinstainedcreatureof the dust" (pp. 306-7). Once again, Hawthorneis being
ironic.He calls theproofsof Dimmesdale'sguilt"clear as the mid-daysunshineon thescarletletter,"butnoon lightis no absolute,it is simplyone in a
series of constantlychanging lights. Throughoutthe novel Hawthorne
consistently
evokesthe relativity
of truthto one's perspective
withimagesof
objectswhosesignificance
radicallyalterswiththechanginglight,and indeed,
he characterizeshis own viewpointas novelist(and the imaginativealterationsthatit creates)in the famousimage of everydayobjectsilluminatedby
and moonlightand reflected
firelight
in a mirror.Further,Hawthornetellsus
whattheseclear proofsof Dimmesdale'sguiltamountto: "a manuscriptof
old date, drawnup fromtheverbaltestimony
of individuals,some of whom
had knownHesterPrynne,whileothershad heardthe tale fromcontemporarywitnesses"(p. 307). Not onlyis theauthority
ofthemanuscript
based on
hearsay, but it is an authoritythat Hawthornehimselfhas called into
questionat variouspointsin thenoveland in exactlythesame waythatDimmesdale'sfriendsquestionedtheminister'sfinalconfession.As theyclaimed
that his dyingactionswere intendedto be parabolic,so Hawthorne,when
dealingwiththemanuscriptaccountsof thereputedwitchMistressHibbins,
suggeststhather reportedactivitiesmay not be the literaltruthbut onlya
parable(pp. 144,265).
TheSymboloftheHieroglyphics
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Hawthorne'sfriendMelville had Emerson's remarkin mind whenhe introduced into Moby-Dick a character whose condition is literallyhiI refer,ofcourse,to Ishmael'stattooedfriendQueequeg.Melville
eroglyphic.
saysthatQueequeg's "tattooinghad beentheworkofa departedprophetand
seer of his island,who,by thosehieroglyphic
marks,had writtenout on his
bodya completetheoryof theheavensand theearth,and a mysticaltreatise
on theartofattainingtruth;so thatQueequeginhisownproperpersonwas a
riddleto unfold;a wondrousworkin one volume;but whosemysteries
not
even himselfcould read, thoughhis own live heartbeat againstthem;and
thesemysteries
weretherefore
destinedin theend to moulderaway withthe
livingparchmentwhereontheywere inscribed,and so be unsolvedto the
last.935
As in The Scarlet Letter,the essentiallyundecipherable
characterof the
hieroglyphis a continuingmotifin Moby-Dick. Melville describesthe
markingson the sides of the spermwhale as "hieroglyphical;
thatis, ifyou
call those mysteriouscypherson the walls of pyramidshieroglyphics,
then
that is the properword to use in the presentconnexion.By my retentive
memoryof the hieroglyphics
upon one Sperm Whale in particular,I was
muchstruckwitha plate representing
theold Indiancharacterschiselledon
the famoushieroglyphic
palisades on the banks of the Upper Mississippi.
Like those mysticrocks, too, the mystic-marked
whale remains undecipherable"(p. 305). If,as Melvillesays,"you call thosemysterious
cyphers
on the walls of pyramidshieroglyphics,"
thenMoby Dick withhis "pyramidicalwhitehump"(p. 180) and hismystic-marked
browis thecentralenigin thenovel.But as thehieroglyphic
matichieroglyph
letterin Hawthorne's
novel had its humancounterpart,
so the whitewhale has in the personof
Ahab its hieroglyphichuman equivalent in Melville's novel. Ahab is
describedas beinglike a "pyramid"(p. 127),as havingan "Egyptianchest"
(p. 182),and themarkson hisbroware likethehieroglyphic
markingson the
foreheadof the spermwhale.That undecipherability
is theessentialcharacteristicofthehieroglyph
forMelvilleis made clearin Ishmael'sdiscussionof
the whitenessof the whale. Moby Dick's whitenessstrikesIshmael witha
"vague,namelesshorror"(p. 185),butIshmael'sfeelingis notso mucha horrorthatis vagueand namelessas a horrorofthevagueand nameless,a revulsion at the ultimatelyindefinite
and indeterminate
natureof theworldsymbolizedbythecolorwhite.He says,"Is itthatbyitsindefiniteness
itshadows
forththe heartlessvoids and immensities
of the universe,and thusstabs us
frombehindwith the thoughtof annihilation,when beholdingthe white
depthsofthemilkyway?Or is it,thatas inessencewhiteness
is notso mucha
35HermanMelville,Moby-Dick, eds. LutherS. Mansfieldand Howard P. Vincent(New
York: Hendricks,1952),p. 477. All subsequentquotationsfromMoby-Dickare takenfromthis
edition.
TheSymbolof theHieroglyphics
123
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soul, whenthe "hypos" gettheupperhand,he goes to sea: "This is mysubstituteforpistoland ball. Witha philosophicalflourishCato throwshimself
upon his sword;I quietlytake to theship" (p. 1). Ishmael'svoyage,then,is
intendedto be an alternative
to self-destruction.
In a sense,itis becauseAhab
acts outso completely
theself-destructive
potentialin IshmaelthatIshmaelis
freedofhavingto act itout forhimselfand thusescapesto tellthestory.
The qualitiesattributed
to Moby Dick inthenovelare simplytheprojected
attributes
of his pursuersand, in particular,thechiefof hispursuers-Ahab.
Moby Dick is representedas a malign deitybecause Ahab who does the
representing
is, as Ishmaelsays,"an ungodly,god-likeman." Because ofthe
essentialindefiniteness
of the whitewhale,Ahab "shadows forth"his own
dark selfon Moby Dick. The whale'sintelligent
is Ahab's own,the
malignity
whale'subiquityis buttheself'sownsensethat,look whereitwill,itsees only
some aspect of itself.Ahab's sense of the self's inescapablepresenceis apparentin the chaptercalled "The Doubloon" where,examiningthe coin
nailedto themast,he interprets
itshieroglyphic
markings-threemountains,
one bearing a flame,one a tower and one a crowingcock-as personal
emblems:"The firmtower,thatis Ahab; thevolcano,thatis Ahab; thecourageous,the undaunted,and victoriousfowl,that,too, is Ahab; all are Ahab;
and thisroundgold is but theimage of therounderglobe,which,likea magician'sglass,to each and everyman in turnbut mirrorsback his ownmysteriousself" (p. 428). As an illustration
ofthisremark,therestofthechapter
is a studyin multipleperspectivism.
Starbuck,Stubb,Flask, theManxman,
Queequeg, Fedallah and Pip successivelyapproachthe coin and findin its
designan embodimentof theirown subjectivestates.Havinginterpreted
the
zodiac aroundthe coin's edge as a symbolof thestagesin man's life,Stubb
Afteroverhearing
stepsaside to observetheotherinterpreters.
thecomments
of the Manxman,Stubb says, "There's anotherrendering
now; butstillone
text.All sorts of men in one kind of world,you see" (p. 431). And when
Queequeg approaches,Stubb remarksthat his tattooingmakes him look
"like thesignsof theZodiac himself"(p. 431). The processofinterpretation
has come full circle, for when the tattooed Queequeg stands beforethe
emblematiccoin, thehieroglyphic
subjectconfronts
thehieroglyphic
object.
And finallywe understandthatthe hieroglyph
of the worldis doublyundein itself,and in its veryindefiniteness
it allowsthe
cipherable.It is indefinite
individualsubjectto projecton it thestructure
of a selfas undecipherable
as
the world.The wholeprocessis circularand maddening.So Ahab says that
theroundcoinis an imageoftheroundglobewhichlikea mirrorreflects
each
man's mysteriousself. It is a commonplacethat the image of the circle
dominatesMoby-Dick,and certainlyit is thatimagewhich,forMelville,unthe hieroglyph,
derliesthe wholeprocessof interpreting
yetnot in the same
way that this was true for Emerson and Thoreau. When Emerson and
TheSymbolof theHieroglyphics
125
world,they
Thoreau penetratedthe outer complexityof the hieroglyphic
form-the
of naturalformsa singleunifying
foundbeneathits multiplicity
circleor Platonic sphere,the basic shape that God gave to the world.For
themthecirclewas an image of unity,harmonyand hope. But forMelville
one. It is the
oftheworldis a different
thecirclethatgovernsthehieroglyph
knowingprocessin whichmanprojectstheself's
of a self-enclosed
circularity
groundand thenreads it back. For
personalstructureon an indeterminate
Melvillethe circleis an image of terror-an image of the prisonof the self
and ofendless,meaninglessrepetition.
ofthethawingsand bank in Walden,Thoreau
At theend ofhisdescription
exclaims,"The Maker of thisearthbut patenteda leaf.What Champollion
forus, that we may turnover a new leaf at
will decipherthishieroglyphic
last?" As we pointedout earlier,it is a rhetoricalquestion,forThoreau has
leaf,and the styleof life
himselfjust finisheddecipheringthishieroglyphic
thathe describesin Waldenis meantto showhis readershow theycan turn
over a new leaf in theirown lives. At the end of the chapterin whichhe
markingson the whale's foreheadand associates
describesthe hieroglyphic
themwiththe markingson Ahab's brow,Melvilleexclaims,"Champollion
But thereis no Champollion
decipheredthe wrinkledgranitehieroglyphics.
to decipherthe Egyptof everyman's and everybeing'sface. Physiognomy,
like everyotherhumanscience,is but a passingfable. If then,Sir William
Jones,who read in thirtylanguages,could not read the simplestpeasant's
face in its profounderand more subtlemeanings,how may unletteredIshmael hope to read the awfulChaldee of theSpermWhale's brow?I putthat
browbeforeyou. Read it if you can" (p. 345). And he adds, "If the Sperm
a Sphinx,to the phrenologisthis brain seems
Whale be physiognomically
it is impossibleto square" (p. 346). We need
which
that geometricalcircle
to
onlyrecallthattheanswer theSphinx'sriddlewas man.
If it is truethattheliteraryworksoftheAmericanRenaissanceare thebethatself-consciously
in America,a literature
ginningofa symbolistliterature
theme,then,to judge from
itscontinuing
makestheprocessof symbolization
eventsthat focusedthe atthe worksthemselves,one of the contemporary
tentionof Americanwriterson thelinguisticaspectsof thesymbolicprocess
Moreover,the dewas Champollion'sdeciphermentof the hieroglyphics.
providedthese Americanwriterswith a
ciphermentof the hieroglyphics
metaphorwhichtheycould use to examine the symbolicprocess froma
variety of viewpoints. In decipheringthe hieroglyphicsChampollion
into
whathad been a symbolof the divineand the mysterious
transformed
somethinghuman and conventional;he discoveredthat the hieroglyphics
werenotemblematicbutphonetic,thatas signstheystoodnotfornaturalobwas notnecessarybut
jects but forhumansoundsand thustheirsignificance
arbitrary.So much of what Champolliondiscoveredabout the supposedly
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AmericanQuarterly