Bartleby, the Scrivener

Bartleby is one of the most complicated and complex passages, especially for how simply and blatantly that it is written by Herman Melville. It is a tale of some behind the scenes of Wall Street, but it is so much more than that. The Narrator is a property lawyer who has two very animated characters as copyists, Turkey and Nippers, and an "apprentice", named Ginger Nut, who is pretty much the errand boy for the other workers.
Life becomes much more complicated for the Narrator when a man names Bartleby comes to his office for a job as a scrivener. All is well for the first couple of days, Bartleby worked like a machine. Howver, when he is asked to do anything other than copy papers, he answers with a simple response: "I would prefer not to". The Narrator also finds out that Bartleby is living in the office. He tries to fire him, but Bartleby refuses. He becomes like the office's stray dog, or ghost who lurks in the corners. The Narrator is so confused, because he just cannot understand what is wrong with Bartleby. Is he depressed? Is he mentally challenged? is he homeless? The narrator offers all the help he knows how, offering moner, his home, but Bartleby simply "prefers" not to take it. The narrator ends up simply running out of options, and moves offices, leaving Bartleby behind. The next leaser ends up having Bartleby sent to jail, where he starves himself to death.
This passage really makes you question, what purpose did Bartleby serve in the story? Was he a character foil to the narrator? Was his role and relationship with the narrator to show how reasonable people deal with social problems we do not understand or cannot resolve?

Ligeia

On Wednesday of this week, we had a lot of focus on Poe's Ligeia. It is told through the words of the narrator who seems to be an insane opium addict, making the story hard to believe. Throughout the entire passage, you are wondering how much of it is actually true and how much is him hallucinating. He is fixated on his late wife, Ligeia and constantly sees her ghost as well as in Rowena.
To the narrator, Ligeia was perfect. She was physically gorgeous, knowledgeable of everything, and she worshiped him. He was very superficial and wanted a subservient. Another question I had in the reading was that i wondered if he ever really saw Rowena, because he was so fixated on Ligeia. "That Ligeia loved me, I should not have doubted; and I might have been easily aware that, in a bosom such as hers, love would have reigned no ordinary passion. But in death only, was I fully impressed with the intensity of her affection. For long hours, detaining my hand, would she pour out before me the overflowings of a heart whose more than passionate devotion amounted to idolatry." Also, his constant reference to opium makes you constantly question his sanity.
There were quite a few quotes from the story that symbolized his dark point of view. The following was what i found to be very important: "It might have been midnight, or perhaps earlier, or later, for I had taken no note of time, when a sob, low, gentle, but very distinct, startled me from my revery. I felt that it came from the bed of ebony-the bed of death. I listened in an agony of superstitious terror-but there was no repetition of the sound; I strained my vision to detect any motion in the corpse, but there was not the slightest perceptible."

Poe and The Raven

It is no secret that Edgar Allen Poe was a very complex and interesting man. His life story and sanity are definitely questionable but nothing can be proven because he did not write his own biography. The first one done was by his competition who hated him. Even if Poe had written an autobiography, he was a "showman" who wanted to be looked at as crazy. But, no matter what is said of Poe, he is a well-respected writer, and for good reason. His use of symbolism and imagery, descriptive settings, and his intense moods and tones of his poems and short stories make them a great and interesting read, no matter how dark.
One of Poe's most famous works is The Raven. He makes great use of all of his literary devices and creativity in this poem. It had a gothic and dark setting. The passage that I believe shows the mood the best is lines 7-12 which state:
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each seperate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;-vainly I had tried to borrow
From my books sucrease of sorrow-Sorrow for the lost of Lenore-
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore-
Nameless here for evermore.
This passage really sets the dark scene as well as shows us the theme of paranoia, sorrow, and mourning. There is also fear of the afterlife and the reuniting with his late Lenore.
Another one of Poe's extreme strengths was his symbolism. In The Raven he uses many symbols which infer darkness but the most representative symbol is the raven, itself. A raven eats corpses, it is a dark black bird, and can be trained to say words. There are also myths about ravens that they are signs that warn of evil. All of these could contribute to why Poe used the raven. It turns from a comforting presence, to a sign, to complete evil throughout the poem. It ends with:
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming.
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-nevermore!

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Throughout the stories we have read by Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Minister's Black Veils and Young Goodman Brown), there is an ongoing theme. I am not only talking about the theme of questionable motives and constant possibility of evil, but I am also referring to his way of writing. Hawthorne has a way with words that really makes you think. You are constantly questioning "What does this mean?", "Why is he doing this?", "What is he referring to?" Is it annoying or intriguing?
I find it very intriguing. I enjoy inferring things on my own and using my imagination while reading. I find Nathaniel Hawthorne to be a brilliant writer. He really makes his audience think. "What does the veil represent on Hooper's face?", "What are Goodman Brown's religious intentions?" Asking myself these questions and really digging deep for the answers is a much better form of entertainment than watching a television show. There was one quote from each story which i found the most compelling. From The Minister's Black Veil it was "The subject hd reference to secret sin, and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscent can detect them." From Yound Goodman Brown it was "But, irreverently consorting with these grave, reputible, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewey virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice, and suspected even of horrid crimes. It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints."
Although the stories are dark and may sometimes cause our imagination to go to places we do not necessarily want to go. Hawthorne is constantly referring to evil and it is hard not to think about death and other subjects of the sort.

Puritanism

I have found that Puritanism is the most controversial aspect of the Colonial Period as well as one of the most controversial religions that I have learned about. It was quite an extreme religion that, I would say, almost resembled a colt with its strictness. According to many of the narratives that we have been exposed to, being a Puritan did not mean living a life of optimistic light but resembled more of a life of fear. Believing in predestination, the Puritans believed that you were either destined for Hell or Heaven, and there was nothing you could do about your fate.
Although we saw some works like Edward Taylor's Upon Wedlock, and The Death of Children, which had a much more optimistic view, according to poems like Bradstreet's As Weary Pilgrim and the ever-so-depressing Day of Doom by Wigglesworth showed the true side of Puritanism with the thought of death always in the back of the mind.
A main point of Puritanism was to follow the acronym "TULIP". This stood for Total Deprevity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irressistable Grace, and Perseverence of the Saints. Sticking to this mean all that made up a Puritan. I find myself thankful for not being a part of this religion because of the hardships and pessimistic attitude that seemed to go along with it. Scaring people into faith just does not appeal to me. I believe in free will and optimism being the key to success, and I know that back then, I could be annexed for such a thought.

Taylor's Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children

Edward Taylor's Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children is one of my favorite passages that we have read in American Literature thus far. We have been accustomed to more dark and depressing poems such as Wigglesworth's Day of Doom and Anne Bradstreet's As Weary Pilgrim. Taylor's poem was a wonderful contrast to those. I have always been more of an optimist and loved reading things that find the light in the dark. This is precisely what Taylor does in his poem.
Although it is about a very sad subject of having your child pass away before you, he finds the good in the bad. Yes, death claims his sickly children, but instead of being angry at God for taking them from him, he says that his children were so wonderful that God wanted them closer to him. They way he talks about his kin is really beautiful. My favorite of his metaphors was when he compared them to flowers.
Overall i found this work to be a wonderfully and surprisingly uplifting poem, and it was a good change to read something that made me smile.

The Life of an American Colonist

Judging from Poems such as The Day of Doom and As Weary Pilgrim,life in Colonial America was anything but simple and The American Dream was nothing but far-fetched. It seemed as if the biggest part of life was suffering. According to Anne Bradstreet's As Weary Pilgrim, death seemed like a better option than going on as a Pilgrim. The poem is told through the perspective of a Pilgrim who has seen it all. He describes his life as full of hardships, including water that may or may not be safe to drink, wild and unpredictable paths, and wolves that threaten his life. Wigglesworth, in The Day of Doom describes the religion of the time, Puritanism, as disgustingly evil and unforgiving. The most deisgraceful part involved the description of unborn babies being sentenced to Hell due to their misfortune. All of the poems we have come across have made me so thankful to not have lived through that time.