Suggesting the author's own obstinacy, the main character replies to all comers, "I would prefer not to," thereby declaring his independence from outside intervention.Ĭharacterized as a symbolic fable of self-isolation and passive resistance to routine, "Bartleby, the Scrivener" reveals the decremental extinction of a human spirit. One of the most obtuse of these short works, "Bartleby, the Scrivener," subtitled "A Story of Wall-Street," was published for $85 in Putnam's magazine in November and December 1853 its focus is on the dehumanization of a copyist, the nineteenth-century equivalent of a photocopy machine. For the sake of economy and speed, his output dwindled from the full-length novel to the short story, a stylistic constriction with which he never developed ease. The gems hidden among lengthy, digressive passages required more concentrative effort than readers were capable of or willing to put forth.Ĭhallenged to delve into the perplexities of morality, Melville avoided the more obvious superficialities and plunged determinedly into greater mysteries. His readers, accustomed to the satisfying rough and tumble of his sea yarns, were unable to make the leap from straightforward adventure tale to probing fiction. ![]() Pierre, his first published work after Moby-Dick, with its emphasis on incest and moral corruption, exemplifies his decision to change direction. Like his letters, Melville's style became tortuous and demanding his themes questioned the nature of good and evil and what he perceived as upheaval in universal order. Instead, he cultivated a more spiritual language to express the darker, enigmatic side of the soul. ![]() ![]() With the publication of Moby-Dick, he grew disenchanted with his attempt to please the general reader. The turning point of his career came in 1851. Like many artists, Melville felt constrained to choose between art and money.
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