Herman Melville's "Pierre" offers readers a world simultaneously driven by and struggling with its relationship to the past. The personal and ancestral stories significantly affect the present-day interactions and psychology of the book's main characters, particularly Pierre and Isabel. The connection between present and past events appears in the pattern of sins of the father, Peter Glendinning the Elder, passed down to the second generation. The past binds Pierre and Isabel in a close blood relationship, but the illicit and ambiguous circumstances surrounding the alleged affair with Glendinning imbue the present with an atmosphere of mystery and decadence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get the original essay The strange brother-sister affiliation alludes to a recurring proposition in the novel: that a person's self-definition character and his subsequent self-projection into his environment depend largely on the clarity of his perception of the past. Pierre, in particular, relies on family history to construct his fundamental personality and the face he shows to the world. He appropriates the legends of Glendinning as a guide to behavior. The only troubling aspect of Pierre's character at the beginning of the book - his slightly incestuous feelings towards his mother - can be explained in part as a reaction to Pierre's alienation from his past. The loss of Pierre's father, a mature patriarch and pillar of Glendinning tradition, leaves Pierre lost in deep uncertainty. As a result, he must act as both a son and a father. The shift in roles blurs his definition of acceptable filial affection. In all other respects, Pierre appears to be a perfect representative of the Glendinning race, prompting Mrs. Glendinning to predict a bright future for her son, the "noble, well-born, noble boy." He is, according to her, suitable to occupy an eminent position. Given the immense wealth of the Glendinning dynasty, it is not surprising that memories of Peter's past are largely tied to specific material artifacts, heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. From his early childhood, Pierre was surrounded by the possessions of his grandfather, a famous major general of the War of Independence. Pierre drives his ancestor's antiquated phaeton, often tries on the old man's military vest, and regularly gazes at his grandfather's portrait, prominently displayed in Saddle Meadows. These actions constitute Pierre's attempt to identify with this figure of epic proportions within the Glendinning family. Indeed, Pierre's own mother promotes such comparisons, frequently alluding to the ancestor's martial exploits and often addressing Pierre in similarly lofty and gallant language. Obviously, young Pierre is led to consider his grandfather's mantle of nobility as his birthright; at this point in his life, it settles casually as he picks up the major general's antique silver-tipped staff. The painted image of his grandfather projects all the positive qualities that Pierre loves in himself or hopes to emulate: Never could Pierre contemplate his beautiful military portrait without an infinite, sad desire to encounter its living aspect in real life . The majestic gentleness of this portrait was truly marvelous in its effects on any sensitive and generous young observer. For these, this portrait possessed the celestial persuasive power of angelic speech; a glorious gospel framed and hung on the wall. In this passage, Melville connects Peter's thoughtful nature to the vigorous and spiritual traits exemplified by the ancestral figure, a Christian model of kindness andof charity, as well as a courageous soldier. Melville's choice of church-inspired terminology suggests that the portrait had an influence on Peter not unlike that of a religious icon. As a devout worshiper devoting his life to God, Pierre seems determined to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. Through the painted image, his family history acquires the solemnity of a religious ideal, worthy of repetition and emulation. The novel places even greater emphasis on the multiple portraits of Pierre's father: one in which he is a carefree bachelor, and the other, in which he is a calmer married man. Melville indicates that Pierre prefers the latter image. This partiality arises from the close link between image and memory. The post-nuptial portrait more closely resembles Pierre's childhood memory of his father's appearance and behavior. Although Pierre does not completely reject the bachelor portrait, it does not reflect the father figure he knew from birth until the age of twelve and, therefore, contains less truth for him. The postnuptial image, on the other hand, approximates the iconic status of the portrait of the major general in Glendinning's ancestor cult. Melville's language when describing the father's portrait echoes the characterization of "the gentlest husband and the gentlest father" of the elder patriarch. The later depiction of Peter's father seems to "correctly render his features in detail, and more particularly their truest, most beautiful and noblest combined expression." Although not a great military hero like the grandfather, Pierre's father - whether through the natural process of aging or a trick of the artist's brush - seems to have grown into his role as leader. of a worthy family, a model set for Pierre. . Once again, the visual arts act as an emotional and psychological stimulus for the young man, giving concrete meaning to Pierre's memories. Melville uses an architectural metaphor to suggest the result of an image becoming a monument. With strong visual evidence of his father's virtue, to Peter's mind, "his father's sanctuary seemed spotless and still new like his tomb in Arimathea." The reference to the tomb invites a comparison with Christ; although Pierre is half-aware of the potential inconsistencies between the art and the living subject, the image of the tomb emphasizes the primordial permanence of his family's historical constructions. Memory is closely linked to the character of Pierre throughout the book, and particularly in a visual context. Isabel's shocking revelation seriously calls into question Pierre's past memories. Much of her torment is based on the fact that, aside from the evidence of her own sweet face, Isabel can offer no visual proof of her lineage. The many ambiguities have serious consequences on Pierre's sense of belonging in the world. As a result, he moves further and further away from Glendinning's lineage. Peter's loss of identity is strongly expressed in the scene in which he meditates on his grandfather's bed, shortly after his arrival at the Church of the Apostles. Melville's narrator, probing Pierre's thoughts, sighs: But ah, Pierre, when you go to that bed, what a humiliation to think that your greatest length does not measure the proud six foot four of your grandfather John of Gaunt! Despite early accounts of his extraordinary athleticism, Pierre cannot compare himself physically to his grandfather, much less conform to the high expectations imposed on him by the collective memory of his family of the Glendinning line. The invocation of the historical John of Gaunt, fierce knight and founder of a royal line, underlines the elevation of Peter's grandfather from man to myth, 1971.