great works in literature II 2850 kta 2:55-4:35— Shades of Truth . . .

Theme: Questions for Midterm

Group Members: Radia, Elizaveta, and Mel

Comment #1 – Radia

Tripitaka from a Journey to the West, and the narrator in “Bartleby the Scrivener,” share a similar character trait; the fear of taking risks. Compare how both characters battle their fear in their internal journey.

Coment #2 – Mel

The narrator in The Life of a Sensuous Woman and the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener both tell a story of what happened to them. Should they be considered a traditional hero because of this? Why or why not?   

Comment #3 – Elizaveta

Monkey from a Journey to the West and  a narrator from The Life of a  Sensuous Woman are desperately trying to find more in life, what brings both of them to the enlightenment. How are two characters different and similar? And did they actually achieved enlightenment? Why or why not?

Group Members: Denny Huang and Zeyu Kang

Monkey from “Journey to the West” and the narrator in Ihara Saikaku’s from “Life of a Sensuous Woman” both go on a heroic journey. Both end up different than what they were before this journey but they also aren’t the same as each other. Contrast the differences that the narrator and Monkey take on their journey and link it to one of the stages of the heroic journey. Remember to use quotes from the stories to support your statement.

-Denny Huang

Group Members: Myra Khan, Chi Zhang, Diana Rodriguez

Bartleby from “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Monkey from “Journey to the West” have completely opposite personalities. Monkey is hot headed while Bartleby is a little too calm for comfort. Using quotes from the text give examples as to how these two differ when put into difficult situations.

-Myra Khan

Using quotes from Life of a Sensuous Woman and “Bartleby the Scrivener”, develop a comparison as to how the two heroic models (The Heroic Journey & the three types of heros) we have learned in class contribute to a deeper understanding of the leading heros in the texts.  

-Chi Zhang

How does the ability to choose play a role in the lives of the main characters in both Ihara Saikaku’s from Life of a Sensuous Woman and Herman Melville’s Bartleby, The Scrivener? To what extent are the Woman and Bartleby free to make their own decisions and what effect does this have on their personalities? On their character development? On their level(s) of happiness? What does this tell us regarding the importance of choice in our lives? How should we exercise our own personal executive responsibilities in order to be most successful? Use quotes and examples from each of the texts in order to support your answer.

Both the narrator from the Life of a Sensuous Women and Monkey from the Journey to the West are on their own personal heroic journeys. Compare both of their journeys and describe their self awareness that emerges throughout the texts. For example, What are their goals? What was their ordinary world before they entered their journey?

-Kelly Kay

The narrator of Journey to the West included the beliefs of Buddhism. Through Buddhism, the protagonists in the story learned to improved themselves for the better. Using quotes from the books, what influenced them to adapt to the beliefs of Buddhism?

The narrator of  Life of a Sensuous Woman and Bartleby from “Bartleby the Scrivener” both see the truth, when others cannot, however they act on it in a socially inappropriate way. Compare the narrator’s and Bartleby’s characteristics that proves their Byronic-heroism, using quotes from both experts.

-Rosshelle Munoz

(Just a note: A few of you were listed on the group’s title, but did not provide a post. If you were in this situation, you did not receive credit for being present.)

You make some interesting, and sometimes provocative, comments, when discussing both Bartleby and the narrator as one kind of hero or another.

Traditional Hero:

Interestingly, none of you defended Bartleby as a traditional hero!

Anti-hero: Radia; Zeyu; Brian; Roshelle; Kamran; Farhan;

Radia makes a good case for Bartleby as the anti-hero, when she points out that he actually remains in his comfort zone, instead of seeking out something else. Zeyu makes a compelling argument for this hero, when he says that Bartleby’s word choice is very purposeful, and his “preferring” not to, is actually a kind of active choice (and I’m wondering, here, if this does not defend Bartleby being a traditional hero). Brain makes a very interesting comment about Bartleby being “deranged,” and points to the fact that his eyes are “dazed.” Here, he says, Bartleby has become paralyzed with the realization of the meaninglessness of his life. Roshelle points out that Bartleby’s stopping everything puts him steadfastly in this category.

Kamran says that even though Bartleby’s presence shows that something is deeply wrong, he does nothing.

Satanic/Byronic hero: Mel; Denny; Sabera; Myra; Kelly; Crystal; Jonathan;

Mel provides a compelling piece of evidence for Bartleby as the Satanic/Byronic hero, when she points to the fact that Bartleby, when no longer employed, simply hangs out in the building, “sitting upon the banisters of the stairs by day.” Yes, the Satanic hero must do something that is socially unacceptable, and some people would say this fulfills that requirement. What do others think? Denny points out that Bartleby actually affects the morale of the others at work, and this is a good point, because the others start using Bartleby’s famous phrase. Crystal and Sabera suggest that simply the refusal to do work is socially unacceptable (because if everyone refused to work, there would be no society) and Jonathan goes on to state that Bartleby’s refusal is actually insubordination. Sabera points out that he was a diligent worker at one time, so that there seems to be a thought process going on in Bartleby. Myra says Bartleby’s act of rebellion was staring at a brick wall all day: is this Bartleby’s way of trying to communicate his dismay to the others? Kelly feels that Bartleby is innocent of any malicious intent, and just trying to stand up for himself, the only way he knows how.

Other: William; Chi;

William firmly believes that Bartleby is no hero at all, and that he is simply a “lazy character.” Indeed, Bartleby is inscrutable, and it’s difficult to read him, simply by his words and actions. We need to remember, however, that in the beginning, Bartleby isn’t at all lazy, and is in fact an “exceptional” worker, so that leaves room for ambiguity, but what do others think?   Chi sees Bartleby as a “troubled” soul, who is ultimately difficult to analyze, and so, understandably, impossible to categorize.

Borys:

Since the beginning of the the short story by Herman Melville, Bartleby had been an enigma; never revealing his true thoughts or feelings which lead to his foreseeable collapse. He always just got by on what he needed and did what was required of him by his employers. Until one day on Wall Street, the mundaneness of his life had gotten to him, and Bartleby slowly spiraled into desolation. The lawyer observed his employee’s depressing transformation, “Bartleby sat in his hermitage, oblivious to everything but his own particular business there.” The narrator was  explaining how Bartleby slowly isolated himself from other human beings and enveloped himself in his own world. Bartleby’s actions by no means make him a hero; he was simply a miserable and lonesome fellow that gradually gave up on all aspects of his life. He wasn’t fighting against or even ignoring the cruelty and injustice in his life, he simply refused to partake in it anymore. Slowly “preferring not to” do any tasks that were required of him, which not only jeopardized his life, but also his employers who had deadlines and important legal matters to attend to. This sorrowful demise that lead to his death shows us nothing more than a person surrendering to the hardships in life. Considering the fact that people around the world face much worse conditions than this pitiable scrivener, his actions should by no means be praised or labeled as “heroic.”

Zuzanna:

In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby The Scrivener”, Bartleby can be best seen as an anti-hero; he lacks the conventional attributes that define a hero, such as courage, and acts in a way that can be seen as contrary to society’s standards, especially those of 19th-century Wall Street. It is clear that Bartleby becomes extremely dissatisfied with his mundane job, and rather than trying to improve his situation he slowly acquires a passive attitude and disengages from his responsibilities. The famous line “I would prefer not to”, displays his aversion to life. Bartleby begins to view life as meaningless, enveloped in his own world, as an anti-hero typically does. He sees the truth when others don’t, but does nothing. Rather, he allows it to take over every aspect of his life and cause him to completely dissociate from his environment. He arouses sympathy in the narrator and the readers as his mental state descends and eventually causes his death.

Emily:

Routine can be deadly.

When it comes to personal decision-making, when an individual falls into a routine, they become passive actors in their own lives. Whether it’s in their career, at home, in relationships: people lose control and even interest in the day-to-day as they have less of a say in the direction in which their future is headed. For the Boss and his three employees, Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut, their monotonous work in the office is something they have just come to accept. They go on and on copying documents as if it were a real “living” when really it’s just living for their paycheck at the end of the week. Bartleby, whether he is unable to tolerate this mundane existence (or just becomes “unmotivated” as some would argue), develops the regular response to his employer that he simply “would prefer not to.” Though he does challenge the typical low-level Wall Street lifestyle that has come to restrict the worker’s lives by refusing to engage in it, Bartleby does it in such an inappropriate manner that instead of encouraging any drastic transformations within their lethargic environment, he ends up essentially being “fired” from the job and nothing changes. One could argue that this is not even a setting that would allow for any such changes to occur. But, being assertive in such an ill manner made Bartleby a Satanic-Hero: a man with good intentions but a bad execution of them.

An anti-hero can be defined , is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, or morality. These characters are usually considered “conspicuously contrary to an archetypal hero”. Famous anti-heros from literature include Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, Jay Gatsby, and many more. Throughout Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, Bartleby’s actions depict that him as an anti-hero as lacks the conventional aforementioned heroic qualities. Throughout the story, Bartleby had the opportunities to take on the role of becoming a hero but did not choose to do so as he continued to show characteristics that are commonly attributed to anti-heros. One of the most defining characteristics that indicates that Bartleby is anti-hero is his lack of courage and not doing anything even though he knows something is wrong.  Bartleby accepts his current role as a common office worker and hates this life but he lacks any type of courage or confidence to fix this issue.