After reading a variety of short fiction stories, my eyes were opened to the variety of characters, plots, settings, themes, narrations, and points of view that they can possess. I have never read something as complex as “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. I had to read my classmates’ comments and my professor’s blog to comprehend what I had just read. I realized that fiction can have controversial topics, use metaphors, and have hidden meanings. I used to think of fiction as being trivial; childish. It was something I read in elementary school purely for entertainment. But there is so much more to it.
The character Bartleby, in “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville , is someone with problems that are never known to the reader. I thought that reading the story, I would have the solution solved, I would know what had been wrong with him, and I would no longer think of Bartleby. But that is not at all the case. I read the story. I still don’t know what was wrong with Bartleby. I still think about Bartleby. I still wonder, “How could things have been different?” “What in his life made him prefer not to do things, and brave enough to say no to a boss?” I actually have to THINK after reading this story! I came up with many assumptions and guesses while I was reading, but they all seemed to prove to be incorrect. But I never did find an answer. But is that answer important? I realized that making the reader think, making the reader intrigued, and making the reader learn are all important parts of fiction. It is okay that I never knew why Bartleby preferred not to do things. As a matter of fact, it was good that I never knew. Had I known, it would have taken away from the story. I would have paid attention to different details. In this story, describing the character less was actually more for the reader.
3 comments:
I continue to think about the same things. What was wrong with Bartleby, and what in the world is the "it" the couple in "Hills Like White Elephants" is fighting about!? In some ways I was very angry at the authors after the stories. I want to know the answers to my questions, but they will never be there. I can guess, and assume but that's as far as I will get with the answers.
As far as realizing the plots and and point of view and the settings and symbols, I realized just how important each aspect is. The story cannot stand without one of the objects, nor can that object stand alone with out the story. Neither would make much sense. Just like a baby is completely dependant on its mother or caretaker, so the elements of a short story are to the story itself.
Herman Melville wrote “Bartleby the Scrivener,” which was an amazing and captivating short story, and agree with saying that it left me with several questions. The character of Bartleby was intriguing by him starting the story as a great copywriter and towards the end becoming a nuisance to his boss. The question I continued to ask myself throughout was similar to yours, what was Bartleby’s complex issue for him becoming ill willed to help his boss? Could he have been struggling from a physical issue, or was he suffering from a psychological issue that had progressed? After several times of reading this short story, I still have a hunger for more to see if I can decipher a possible hint that may lead me to discovering his issue or illness. However, studying it only makes me want to read more of Melville’s writings. The structure he used to create the characters to the point where I could view them vividly in my own mind and how he built up the plot to keep me on the edge of my seat was brilliant. If there was one thing I could ask Herman Melville, it would be the obvious question many of us have, “what made Bartleby say, ‘I prefer not to sir’ to his own boss?”
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