Herman Melville Melville's early life experiences influenced many of his writings and the themes of his stories. As you know, this all started in a peculiar way, just like everyone else's life. Somewhere in New York City lived Allan and Maria Gansevoort Melvill. On August 1, 1981, Allan and Maria welcomed their third child into the world and named him Herman. Herman was born into a family rich in history. Its elders were of Scottish and Dutch descent. Herman had two grandfathers who were an important part of the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party. Herman, however; he did not follow in these footsteps. In 1826, Herman's father Alan wrote of him that he was slow and that he was rather backward in his thinking. A year later, Alan was tragically diagnosed with scarlet fever, leaving him almost permanently blind. Unable to work, the family business failed. Seeking reinforcements they decided to return to Albany, New York, where Alan and his wife had originally met. Herman then enrolled in Albany Academy, but just before another tragedy struck the family. Alan died in 1832, leaving his family once again in despair. Alan's eldest son, Gansevoort, assumed the responsibility of head of the family. Herman joined him two years later as a bank clerk. Surprisingly the family made the decision to change their surname from "Melvill" to "Melville". In 1835, Herman attended Albany Classical School and then joined the school's local debating society. Later, Melville decided he would like to try teaching. He only taught for 3 years because he didn't like it very much, but what he does next will decide his entire future. Melville had already started writing by this point, but as a teenager he went looking for something. ...... middle of paper ....... Some passages in Melville's writings address all forms of sexuality. There are passages in Moby Dick and also in Billy Bud where you can see this better. In recent years, Billy Budd has become a center in the field of legal scholarship, also known as law and literature. Herman's legacy is quite large in our lives today. It changed the way many writers base their stories. They realize how popular his writings are and see that the reason is because his books contain such realities and life experiences. Moby Dick is still used in school libraries around the world and is the basis of all historical writings. He is very recognized for this novel and in fact it was awarded an award just recently. In 2010, scientists found a new species of extinct giant sperm whales. The paleontologist who discovered the fossils was a fan of Moby Dick and named the species after him.