You know, there's quite a lot of physical same-sex intimacy among characters in early American novels. Literature experts have always been quick to dismiss homosexual implications, citing the different culture of the time.

But to Melville, the intimacy was clearly a critical sub element of his story. What are we to make of that? How are we to interpret it? Should we just ignore it?

Why should we not, rather, take note that love and intimacy are so firmly rooted in the human psyche that they find positive expression whenever allowed to flourish?