After isolating and defining the ways in which three of the early works — Typee, Reduburn,and White Jacket — contributed to Melville's progress toward an idea of transcendence, Sherrill assesses the genesis, emergency, and shape of this idea as it is articulated more fully in$ Moby-Dick,$and then moves to$ Pierre$and$ Billy Budd$to see how the idea became a controlling factor in Melville's mature vision of life. This study stands as an interpretive alternative to critical accounts of Melville's quarrel with "God".