His subject matter is french. His characters reflect the french style. It's the Protestant-Puritan strand plus racial complex that center the works of both authors. Yet, it's not the substitute for serious criticism. Forget about literary psychoanalysis.
Humility can be virtue.
Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Shakespeare, Blake, Swift, Bruno, Flaubert, Ibsen. French language is not as you describe it. However, I am very disturbed by the fact that you would base the majority of your views on hearsay from other critics. So allow me to put Harold Bloom into his rightful place. However to say that their writings reflect Melville's influence is another matter.