Oh Bartleby...
I'm not ashamed to say I did not enjoy reading this not-so-short story.
I might have more sympathy for Melville if I'd never experienced the splash of Moby Dick. However, a few semesters ago I read his Bible in an American Lit class, surrounded by others who also were trying to stay afloat.
Today, we talked about the horror and hopelessness within Bartleby's tale. I don't buy it. You want to explore the darkness and depression within the human soul? Read Crime and Punishment. A better way to explain why this story is hard to read lies within the plot. It's a simple plot. In terms of action, little happens. The only conflict that occurs is within my mind (as a reader) after the chorus of the story: "I would prefer not to."
When talking out stories, meanings, author's intentions, background information, my mind checks out from group discussion. I can't help it; ideas of characters, plots, settings of my own take up all the space up there. I guess I'm confessing; in class today, my mind kept racing back to that Dead Letter Office. I couldn't get over what might happen within that kind of work space. And the mention of Melville and Hawthorne getting rained in together? What subjects were covered within their spontaneous conversation? Not the weather!
As to any more discussion on Melville's Bartleby, I would honestly prefer not to continue.
out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment