FREE ESSAY ON ISRAEL POTTER

ISRAEL POTTER

How Do We Rank?
Journal on Israel Potter
"The bricks immediately lining the vaults would be all burnt to useless scrolls, black as
charcoal...the next tier would be a little less withered, but hardly fit for service; and
gradually, as you went higher and higher along the successive layers of kiln, you came to
the midmost ones, sound, square, and perfect bricks, bringing the highest prices; from
these the contents of the kiln gradually deteriorated in the opposite direction, upward."
(Chapter 23, pp.156)
This particular quote plays on the class system in society. It breaks down the class
rankings bit by bit, starting with the lowest level. The peasants were at the bottom of
the barrel, and were considered to be dirty people who took up space. But the references
to words such as "burnt" and "charcoal" suggests that Melville was not only talking about
peasants, but also black people. It is obvious that the issue of race is also addressed
in this particular quote. Blacks, who are "useless," are at the very bottom, and the
description used to characterize them suggests that they aren't even worthy of being put
in a class. Next would come the peasants, "hardly useful." The "midmost ones, sound,
square, and perfect" characterized the Bourgeois class. Those that were entrepreneurs and
hard workers who made up most of the 'important' part of society. As you climb higher,
the rich are seen as just as dirty and useless as the poor. They have money, but do
nothing productive with it or with themselves.
Another interpretation could be that the bricks represent war. America had to fight in
the beginning to gain independence from Britain, which would explain why the first set of
bricks are burnt (from bombing). They also lay the foundation for all of the other bricks
to climb high. The next set, "a little less withered" perhaps represents the aftermath of
war and is symbolic of the rebuilding period. The middle, strongest bricks refer to
America flourishing and coming into her own. But as America grows it becomes corrupt,
thus the bricks are "black as charcoal."