From Melville to Eddie Murphy

Herman Melville's 1857 novel, The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade has been closely examined with regard to nineteenth-century American politics, changing class structures, and the emergence of the “con man” as a contemporary trickster figure.11 In particular, Helen Trimpi in Melville's Confidence Men and American Politics in the 1850s (Hamden, CT: Archon Books, 1987) and Jonathan Cook in Satirical Apocalypse: An Anatomy of Melville's The Confidence Man (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996) address political and historical contexts for the novel, while William Lenz, Fast Talk and Flush Times: The Confidence-Man as a Literary Convention (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1985), Gary Lindberg, The Confidence-Man in American Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982), Karen Halttunen, Confidence Men and Painted Women: A Study of Middle-Class Culture in America, 1830-1870 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982), and Warwick Wadlington, The Confidence Game in American Literature (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975) place the novel in the context of the emerging literary and cultural figure of the con man. John Bryant, in Melville and Repose: The Rhetoric of Humor in the American Renaissance (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), discusses the novel in the context of American cosmopolitanism, figured as an aesthetic, philosphical, and historical concern. See also Bryant, “The Confidence-Man: Melville's Problem Novel,” in his A Companion to Melville Studies (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1986), 315-50, for an overview of earlier critical approaches to the novel. However, little or nothing has been said with regard to the role of disability in the novel, despite the proliferation of disabled characters in it. Yet at the time of the novel's composition, United States and European cultures were involved in a fundamental transformation of perceptions and attitudes toward disability that eventually produced our modern systems of rehabilitation and social entitlements.22 David L. Braddock and Susan L. Parish, “An Institutional History of Disability,” in Handbook of Disability Studies, ed. Gary L. Albrecht et al. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Stage Publications, 2001), 23-31. Brad Byrom, “A Pupil and a Patient: Hospital-Schools in Progressive America,”The New Disability History: American Perspectives, ed. Paul K. Longmore and Lauri Umansky (New York: New York University Press, 2001), 133. Henri-Jacques Stiker, A History of Disability, trans. William Sayers (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1999), 91-189. Deborah Stone, The Disabled State (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1984), 38. The historical convergence of this transformation with the emergence of the confidence man as a cultural figure is not coincidental either, for, as Deborah Stone notes, the emergence of “disability” as a coherent social category was integrally tied to notions of deception (23). Stone observes that the need to regulate both disability and vagrancy—two historically entwined conditions—emerged during the transition to modern capitalism as a response to greater social and physical mobility. She makes this point particularly with regard to begging: Given its connection to deception, at least in the common understanding, the phenomenon of begging must have been a threat to the social order in another very profound way. It challenged people's confidence that they could know the truth. That a concern with deception should accompany a social transformation characterized by sudden increases in geographic and social mobility should not be surprising; constant confrontation with strangers must have undermined people's sense that they could understand one another. And nothing could be more threatening to a sense of social order than the perception that the boundaries between the real and the fake are suddenly blurred. Stone's conclusions indicate the importance of disability as a concept for understanding the distinctly American figure of the confidence man, which most critics agree emerged as a result of shifting class relationships, urbanization, and unprecedented social mobility, as a figure for cultural anxieties over issues of identity, truth, and community.33 See Halttunen 1-7, Lenz 22, Lindberg 5. The remarkable correspondence between the history of disability and that of the confidence man suggests that the presence of characters with disabilities in Melville's novel is crucial to his exploration of “American social activity [as] a confidence game” (Lindberg 45). In fact, I argue that the trope of disability functions centrally in Melville's exploration of the real and the fake, body and text, truth and language. By portraying his characters' physical disabilities as uncertain, contested, and linguistically constructed, he interpellates the reader into a system of confidence in which identity and truth are integrally linked to bodily form. And by connecting those figures to the central character of the confidence man, a wily and articulate antihero, Melville both enacts and undermines the historical linkage between disability and victimhood, embodied in the figure of the pathetic disabled beggar. Thus the novel not only the American figure of the con man, a of a historically the Stone's this character has been most with the European history of the in The and the and as as of nineteenth-century by in The and the ed. and University of Press, And in the of The Confidence-Man social the of as the of and response to the he a by the Herman The Confidence-Man: His ed. and University and the 1984), as Yet the particularly American of the that the figure of the “con man” is the of the beggar. In both Stone's historical and the is a or been to the social role of to his or by for the The disability con man, by to social he social of identity and notions of and the with and as social I of the disability con man as he in American and as a and literary which has both and our social in the Yet the of this cultural figure with the to to The I have between the figure of the and the figure of the disability con man is in contemporary as in the of an “The or “The or The of this figure is by the the disability con man a figure in and that one a the confidence that not of the disability I in an of “The characters a as I the of the the the which the character of as a It that one trope the entwined have they in our cultural this the of its con to be disabled be to con has emerged the which modern physical one is to be a disability and has been or physical of are and challenged in The and this novel a for an exploration of the and of the disability In the of has particularly to of the disability and an of of the disability con be for understanding the by Melville to disability in his novel. of the disability con have as The The The and The Man to contemporary as The and The The of the are The of A History of Disability in the (New University Press, The John The I in the not of its or of the disability con of its remarkable correspondence to Melville's novel, as the and of the disability A of disabled or figures in The of are as or of a confidence man. I the characters most to the and of characters as they to or central By characters in the of cultural attitudes toward I the of Melville critics most literary critics to of disabilities as for of as or political than as disability Melville those the have to disability address as as in the Trimpi for discusses the of in Melville as a of the body and its boundaries than in of disability in The of the in Melville and University Press, 5. In I not the of or Melville's of I that a cultural of and disabilities have to which an of the and of the category of “disability” Helen for a of both and the with the as figures for political She the to that is common in political of this to a for as in one or both to a of the that the figure a has of his and is the his a with a also has as he is a and that has the must figures are not figures of disability of the disability The they is the of of and victimhood, while the of and The of which is in both the and the and of the cultural between and not the that one in the is a fake the man with the real the or in of His By of The is a of It is not to in Melville's is a that or of and in the of Herman Melville (Philadelphia: University of Press, to the in to between of the novel's and shifting that is an of the confidence his disability his are very that the of disability is both to the of his as and to his which the of characters as and the The in the of the novel, a more figure than or the of a of critics the to be the of the confidence man, is critical The of the a of and Melville critics as is to the in the novel his figure in agree that the in Melville's The and the Problem of is critical over the is the of the confidence man. of the are “The Confidence-Man: Melville and the Problem of in American the as a to the while Lenz the as an and figure Cook the as of Melville in and Trimpi suggests that the an or and See also Bryant, for an overview of critical approaches to the character of the In I to that the functions as a of the novel's concern with issues of physical and bodily concern with and was at the of the to an American in Melville's I in Melville's novel a that nineteenth-century I argue that the disabled body is crucial to as is the and and that in bodily are and Melville's University of Press, 1999), as know the is a to the body that in the and Disability, and the (New York: in Melville's novel to a and not only and also a fundamental transformation in the and to with disabilities Stone The transformation a to a with and class to the trope of the disability con in The Confidence-Man and the of the “A a the the reader to a character the he his in the In the is at as the of he his is his and his is of In the is as a one the of and which the American and is was by was that he in the sense of the a by the time the the a for the of the confidence man in the he has been as both an and a a crucial I the of emerging nineteenth-century American over the response to the at the time of the novel's this has to in the cultural and the to the while to the of the he to not as an and he is also as and Melville the in which to the of the pathetic disabled In to this an to the American of the and as and an Melville's confidence man have as a a of the of a been with for for another and he been at he his for a in A and ed. Braddock (New York: New York University Press, 2001), In the the while he is a of the the to of with the and of at the historical by and a more understanding of and nineteenth-century disability as the been in earlier The social category is a of in a as a and a a to with Disability in American Culture and (New York: University Press, The of the and to social to disability at that agree that the of the disabled figure was the by the eventually to be by the of and also and David and L. Disability and the of (Ann University of Michigan Press, See also and in this of In order to nineteenth-century social to of to the of the in an to between and By the of the have to the for one must the one for by over at the time of Melville's were not was the of the to his were the most to as in the of the of The is with the with begging and of he he is with and the his to only of in to the confidence the a is a of a figure of The a figure for understanding the of by Melville's disabled and to in more The confidence is more at the The of this is that the of point which with regard to the he not to his The of to an of during which they have his role as a of is most as a also as a a and an the man with the makes his the to that be a and the of to the both and bodily In this the that the of social to those with disabilities was by of of physical disabilities with and of the and functions of this and An of and the in Melville's of the ed. (New York: New York University Press, and address this in with regard to and are eventually to with his Disability a of between and of of in The Confidence-Man is the the he his one of his of that the of disability with to a that disabled were this emerged the to the boundaries between and The of disability that boundaries are and to which to this Stone the historical of this while of social and to has been more both of is and physical and are that be for the concept of disability has been the need to (23). In and a the of disability with and is and produced that with in Melville's novel characters as the and and of the is to an or as the very of disability suggests he is the of his that he must be that as In the produced is between and of a which the novel and in which the of in which he the physical to the of the as a and the the of man as the of fake and are not as of to the or of a of his very for nothing the Thus while as is in and that the is that the be by or Herman The Confidence His ed. (New York: suggests that the figure of the a category of is that the are to as I argue that this category is that of the are as the social more has the concept of the which emerged in the and the and the to a understanding of the body as to the as the the confidence man the of that In the of both and disability to in the of the and are in he is is in physical the of to which is the of the is the that be and which in the the the suddenly to of as a or and he is to in In this the interpellates the reader into the and to as and of the confidence perception at the of the the of the the confidence man of the reader with another in of the our is an for not only are and by the and are also by the of is and the reader have the and of the as in an the and “The in Melville's The the interpellates the reader into a system of which the of the novel, that the reader is a of the to both and the with and In both the reader as the con and his The between and con man, and the novel and is also in the The by and the in response to not be as in our as the disability is with a of the American characterized by and and the the and the this point in of “The American and the is and The American and the is at and The American is and the at and the social the is by the and the of the and by a The American is and the is and The and of as in physical disability are to a of and by a toward and to a and of disabled observes of American in the of the with disabilities that those with real to New York the disabled and the of were little in of are and were of and the the between deception and disability which the novel by the figure of the of in than the man, is the only in The Confidence-Man is not of his he that he the of his his of disabled while in as a and are more to he have been at this and the characters the of the the only the is by the of in one this character as one of the of in the as he that he The this is the bodily of his are than or to he to as for one to that pathetic his The confidence man in his as the the to the “The of this is a con man disability is as a disabled con man a is he as an of that “A is not to a the and as of identity, to in the novel I argue that the is not is by his bodily into the social of rehabilitation and which I have The the and to the is that the emerging that a not its to or to is in as a he the of his and is with and and the for his disability and The and that the of a I to be the system of with is with that be both he and the to disability into a which be and of the this deception is by both characters and as the of a pathetic than the of a con man, the and of disability and In the of The physical and are as a for the as in the of the that a that his was not a the with the in which body and has of of both the man with the and to be of the confidence man, and is that or bodily one that the man with the and are by con than the for has that con man the is American or and Melville's of the of See Bryant, for of the critical over the of con in the novel. The of body with and the for of disability also modern systems of one must a to be a disabled in the of one is one or both and at the in in which the is the of the and the of the disabled body are to be and The of to the physical body and the crucial to our of and David and this the concept of David of as a that between the of the literary and the of the and In and of a concept for understanding Melville's of of bodily truth and his of body to his I argue that Melville's of the disabled body in The Confidence-Man more and that is a which to of in the of the and are the most of disabled characters are for understanding Melville's of this I the man” in and the in both of characters during the confidence as the the with the figure of the of The of the Melville to of truth and the of the context of the understanding of as crucial to of characters' with the and a and to the earlier characters of the and the of The between the man” and the to and in the of Melville to between the truth of identity in his and a bodily that an of and The in with the Yet Melville the the man to the by to and Melville's by his physical into man not by or by with of his to be was by The is as as a and is into the man as a of the character of the his In this is Melville's the of the and and the reader functions as the The to was by by the and he eventually to of the is to is to be a of the reader by the In of this the to the by the of and to the in the which is the of the as I was of the The that or the is the man, are to the of the text, which is a The man to the in the of the the of the physical body which a the reader that that is and that the physical identity, and of the confidence man is both shifting and The suggests that is for the confidence to is in the as the the and his by the between body and which the novel, particularly in the the he is the was in the to his bodily as It that the the of the disability of as he that identity which is the to the with that bodily the for to and the of his body his and the this the said for the need the a with an of and or the in a the with sudden which the the of the confidence man he is to and by the of the disabled figure by the confidence shifting of body and truth. the for the of is or an of his his of to have for his and be to be while the eventually for his the of he to to for have been a the confidence could have in a the of of his to the confidence man into the figure by this is and the in the to the with in the disability the literary of and more than to characters a must the and of characters and those into as Melville's the of the man. is a confidence in which the confidence in and “The Confidence Man in of It is that the disability con in to the of the for the The the a the which suddenly of are in and that the modern is to to disabled characters in with the between the disability con and the of is for the have been the In the that in New with one of to for the in that a to be disabled a New York have been the with a disability a a man with a his the A the man over to a by a and an is The a to the disability con in as The The The and of which the of a and by a as and more as The Man and of the not a a the the which the and the history of has been entwined with cultural and social a one point to a contemporary American a con man the disability con in the as a the The and The of which were and critical Melville's of its as a for and Paul The the con man of the not of the disability could not be in the to have been in the in order to In a more of the disability con in the which and as con in a to an to more character suddenly not only in a as a disabled The and by this the the of disability in the con A more the disability con in the The in which disabled by in order to a with which to con his the the is by his to most as New also as and he not have a The of the for the disability with his role as both and the to he and at this the for the that he in fact, the has the both of the as the and which have been the as they and The of body is in the of the as the and are suddenly to be The a of contemporary con man the as of the con of the The interpellates the into a system of and for, as Melville notes, by or In a in which the of identity in its most this functions as a to The social issues and a which for both and Melville's novel. the of social con man by and by The are the place a by the they characters as and been and which in the of the into of class with the of critics as Halttunen and Lindberg, argue that the confidence man emerged as a central figure in nineteenth-century to the changing of class and social relationships, that was for of the of class have to as at to they in It is to a con man into a and (Lindberg the central that of and both and undermines in and while into and that man is by his only by his However, the is that is both are in the con of the they the con the in the American of Halttunen observes that the that a was the character and of its The threat of the confidence man was his to the American The of of of of of and to the with of and man in a and a in for the that the of and which are by the of the for the of the con man to in this modern In to the central which the of and are and the of which that those by the confidence in Melville's he is in a that closely the of and in the a with a of and this disability con is by the of the a of and in an and of as a as to the also central in The that are and and that social of and than this is the which that the con over the con In this the the historical nineteenth-century of con toward and a was emerging that its to the of the confidence man in order to in the It is that the of the of the con is the which as as been “The Confidence-Man a (Lindberg is as a despite the of the as a the that he to a with for one which is the that the the in The Confidence-Man the of confidence in the with a to of as he the into By the of the both are and the of the con man Thus the be as a to Melville's novel, in which is not of confidence as confidence in and has been of and he with his one not to by to his in the of a his and his transformation into the beggar. the and of identity in the which to a in Melville's novel. to I not to the between novel and A crucial in the by which both are social as In The Confidence-Man or with a which is both and of this the of the con man is which makes sense of the the the novel's the reader in the of the the of the confidence It to a novel which has with a of the makes more sense the is as the in which and Melville have been Bryant, in Melville and suggests that the the to of the novel a of also in his Companion that is this that is to a in sense an understanding also Melville's of disability and the disability con in his novel. the novel and the disability is not a or as those in the Melville's of in to the and identity a of disability in this novel that is more and than in in which physical disability one as and physical is both and of his In The by the shifting between real and fake, and and undermines or of this is to the which between the of the as the novel was during a time of social and concern disabled The Confidence-Man both to the of the figure of the disabled con man and to its

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• Fear of the Disability Con

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• Confidence Men and Painted Women

  Karen Halttunen•Confidence Men and Painted Women•1986

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  Lauri Umansky, Paul K Longmore•The new disability history•2001

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• Handbook of Disability Studies

  Gary L Albrecht, Gary Albrecht et al.•Handbook of Disability Studies•2001

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• A History of Disability

  Henri-Jacques Stiker•A history of disability•2019

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• The Confidence-Man

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  Sharon L Dean, Jonathan A Cook et al.•American Literature•1997

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• The Confidence Man in American Literature

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