He challenged the world with his genius, and the world defeated him by ignoring the challenge and starving him. He stopped writing because he had failed and because he had no choice but to accept the world’s terms: there is no mystery here. This was not insanity, but common sense.
Raymond Weaver, The Shorter Novels of Herman Melville: Benito Cereno/Bartleby the Scrivener/The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles/Billy Budd, Foretopman
defeat, failure, genius