The Lightning-Rod Man: Stories
About this ebook
Melville sets the tale in a mountain cottage during a violent September thunderstorm. The narrative follows a solitary householder confronted on his hearth by a dripping stranger peddling polished copper rods.
A room between the attic and cellar becomes the scene of their clash over electricity, fear, and divine providence. The author pits the salesman’s calculated terror against the resident’s quiet defiance before the storm rolls away.
- Satire: The peddler brandishes a four-foot copper staff with greenish glass balls and three gilt tines, hawking salvation from thunderbolts at one dollar a foot.
- Social Commentary: Urging the homeowner to avoid bell-wires, oak floorboards, and tall men, the stranger exploits natural dread to manufacture customer demand.
- Moral Allegory: Invoking Jupiter Tonans and Johann Tetzel, the narrative questions whether a mortal peddler selling metallic charms can truly avert the decrees of heaven.
- Also by This Author: Moby Dick, Great Short Works of Herman Melville and The Happy Failure.
Discover more
About the author
Herman Melville (1819–1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet who received wide acclaim for his earliest novels, such as Typee and Redburn, but fell into relative obscurity by the end of his life. Today, Melville is hailed as one of the definitive masters of world literature for novels including Moby Dick and Billy Budd, as well as for enduringly popular short stories such as Bartleby, the Scrivener and The Bell-Tower.
