Given how subversive Mellville was trying to be with other parts of the story, what he chooses to write and present is part of his license as an author and will

Given how subversive Mellville was trying to be with other parts of the story, what he chooses to write and present is part of his license as an author and will show his biases and prejudices. I am not the first person to note the prejudices and racist undertones of the book. I don't think it's worth of praise for being a "classic, must read," book on this basis. I think it's worth reading for many reasons but it's a heavy work and folks should know, going in, that it has many challenging and problematic aspects among the good parts.