Pierre: or, The Ambiguities carries Herman Melville's traditional distaste for humanity. A cynic at heart, Melville hones in upon the undesirable and corrupt elements of life and human character in this book. In a sense, Pierre can be read as Melville's literary counterpart. He reflects the author's encounter, from a young age, with corruption and evil. Unable to combat these forces, Pierre becomes insane.
Pierre is first and foremost committed to ethical goodness. His entire narrative could be reduced if he had dismissed Isabel's claims and married Lucy as he would've been happy to do. Unwilling to risk the injustice of disinheriting a sister, however, he risks everything for Isabel's sake. Along the way he is forced to come to terms with this new narrative of who his father was, how treacherous his mother is, and hwo few people can be relied upon to support him through financial trouble. While his life was assured and consistent before Isabel, Pierre lives with experiences of evil which continue to haunt him long after initially meeting her.
In another sense, this novel is an allegory for the loss of innocence. Pierre devotes his time to navigating the peculiar corruption of his family and home life as best he can. He tries to make things right, while simultaneously falling apart at the core as his very sense of safety and truth is destroyed. The experiences of young adulthood drive Pierre to a breaking point, which he does not overcome. After murdering his cousin, Pierre gives up entirely. He commits suicide after watching his love, Lucy, die of shock. The ending is truly tragic, reflecting the severity with which Melville experienced his own loss of innocence in young adulthood.
