Above is a non-exhaustive list of possible explanations for Ishmael/Melville’s description of Fedallah and his Oriental homeland in Chapter 50, though we know that Fedallah’s true homeland, Persia, is actually a separate entity from East Asia altogether! The description is markedly negative: “He was such a creature as civilized, domestic people in the temperate zone … Continue reading Bias? Ignorance? Dramatic effect? Or Just Racist?