Journal #3
Posted by Melissa Veum
English 48A
09/28/09
"But no. I verily believe that buttoning himself up in so downy and blanket-like a coat had a pernicious effect upon him; upon the same principle that too much oats are bad for horses. In fact, precisely as a rash, restive horse is said to feel his oats, so Turkey felt his coat. It made him insolent. He was a man whom prosperity harmed (Melville, 2367)."
"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation (Melville, quotationspage.com)."
In this quote Melville is stating that Turkey, who has a dreary type of wardrobe, does not feel or look like himself in this borrowed coat. Turkey turns angry and putting the coat on himself and buttoning it up makes him look like he's had too much of a good thing. The speaker thinks that Turkey will appreciate this favor of being able to wear a coat absolutely out of his own style and characteristics, but instead things turn for the worse. It seems that turkey is a man whom the finner things in life are not meant for.
I do believe that you cannot change a person just by putting something shiny and new on the outside of them and calling them something different. For starters if the person does not want to change, in Turkey's case, there is no amount of shine that is going to withstand those boundaries. In terms of this passage the speaker may accomplish what he wants by putting a nice, clean jacket on Turkey, but on the inside he is still going to be the same insolent Turkey.
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