- description
- # CHAPTER VII. BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND SUPPER.
## Overview
This is a chapter from the novel [White-Jacket](arke:01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ) by Herman Melville, titled "CHAPTER VII. BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND SUPPER.". It discusses the significance of meal times and the social hierarchy they reflect on board a man-of-war. The chapter was extracted on January 30, 2026, from the text file [white_jacket.txt](arke:01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY).
## Context
The chapter is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It follows [CHAPTER VI](arke:01KG8AJPBQJ0Q2SB2WPXFS2KHD), which describes the officers and underlings of a man-of-war, and precedes [CHAPTER VIII](arke:01KG8AJPBJGE1G35CBY0ZQT1JV), which contrasts Selvagee with Mad-Jack.
## Contents
This chapter contains two chunks of text. The first [chunk](arke:01KG8AMEAHSE8X27QVTS9ZW38G) discusses the importance of the dinner table and dinner hour as indicators of rank on a man-of-war. It notes that the common seamen dine at noon, while officers dine later, and critiques the commodores who insist that no one dine after their dessert is cleared. The second [chunk](arke:01KG8AMEAH9R52VAS3GRBAQ0TH) focuses on the "outrageous hours" assigned for breakfast and supper, with sixteen hours elapsing between supper and breakfast. It argues for more reasonable meal times for the health and well-being of the crew, even suggesting that battles have been lost due to sailors fighting on empty stomachs.
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- CHAPTER VII. BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND SUPPER.
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- 2026-01-30T20:47:39.667Z
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- title
- CHAPTER VII. BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND SUPPER.