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Confidence‐Man, The: His Masquerade

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | 700+ words | Copyright

Confidence‐Man, The: His Masquerade, unfinished satirical novel by Melville, published in 1857. This last novel printed during the author's life shows a pessimistic view best described by the title of a handbill that figures in the story: “Ode on the Intimations of Distrust in Man, Unwillingly Inferred from Repeated Repulses, in Disinterested Endeavors to Procure His Confidence.”

A deaf‐mute boards the Mississippi steamboat Fidèle, bound from St. Louis for New Orleans, and displays to the passengers a slate on which he writes: “Charity thinketh no evil; suffereth long, and is kind; endureth all things: believeth all things; and never faileth.” This is regarded as a proof of lunacy, although the passengers consider the barber's “No Trust” sign as wise and well expressed. Optimistic, faith‐seeking mankind then appears in a variety of other disguises, as the “Masquerade” continues, and distrust replaces confidence in the course of each episode.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Confidence‐Man, The: His Masquerade." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Confidence‐Man, The: His Masquerade." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-ConfidenceManTheHisMasqrd.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Confidence‐Man, The: His Masquerade." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-ConfidenceManTheHisMasqrd.html

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