Project Gutenberg 2007-06-12 Public domain in the USA. 2482 Melville, Herman 1819 1891 Melville, Hermann The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Confidence-Man LN Yaddanapudi and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team "The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade" by Herman Melville is a novel written in the mid-19th century. The narrative unfolds aboard a steamboat traveling down the Mississippi River, introducing readers to a diverse array of passengers and characters, particularly a mysterious mute man in cream-colored clothing who draws attention to themes of trust, charity, and deception. The main protagonist seems to be this stranger, whose silent plea for charity and kindness slowly reveals deeper social and moral inquiries throughout the text. At the start of the story, the mute stranger boards the steamboat and attempts to connect with the crowd using written messages on a slate that emphasize themes of charity. Though he is met with laughter, disdain, and physical jostling by the crowd, he persists in his quest for understanding and acknowledgment. His juxtaposition against a bustling and skeptical society raises questions about human nature, as different characters react to him in contrasting ways, hinting at the complexities of trust and the social dynamics within the diverse assembly on the ship. As the boat embarks, the beginning sets the stage for a larger exploration of societal behavior, individual motives, and the search for solidarity among strangers. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 68.0 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Satire Swindlers and swindling -- Fiction Mississippi River -- Fiction Steamboats -- Fiction PS Text Category: Novels Category: American Literature 614718 2025-08-09T07:35:22.702893 text/html 643110 2022-05-28T09:05:53 text/html 376590 2025-08-09T07:35:33.590848 application/epub+zip 376576 2025-08-09T07:35:26.031891 application/epub+zip 353564 2025-08-09T07:35:24.737868 application/epub+zip 600410 2025-08-09T07:35:39.268844 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 561176 2025-08-09T07:35:32.671880 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 511146 2022-09-10T09:24:34.156175 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 572220 2025-08-09T07:35:21.676919 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 571930 2022-05-28T09:06:23 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17066 2025-08-09T07:35:39.420815 application/rdf+xml 15211 2025-08-09T07:35:25.252867 image/jpeg 3559 2025-08-09T07:35:24.994896 image/jpeg 321303 2025-08-09T07:35:22.750882 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia