In Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener", the reader's perspective plays a huge role in the characterization of Bartleby. The character of Bartleby is so complex that each reader will have a different opinion when speaking of his identity; these could be that Bartleby is simply a lazy bum who allows life to happen to him or that he is a victim of his circumstances and he is a creature to be pitied. Either way, one can say that the story is essentially at the mercy of the reader's beliefs about Bartleby. When I read this story, I pictured Bartleby as a lazy man who simply did not want to adapt to life and was too apathetic to change anything he disliked. Because of this image of the antagonist, I was unsympathetic when the protagonist, the lawyer, steadily lost everything in his quest to aid Bartleby by any means necessary. When I was forced to reread the story from a different perspective, that is, from a perspective that was kinder to Bartleby and simply viewed him as a fractured soul that was constantly tortured by the loss of his dead letter job and seeming lack of a niche, I was able to pity both men. I pitied Bartleby simply because he had no place to go and was so traumatized by the loss of his previous job that he was unable to comprehend doing anything; I pitied the lawyer because he attempted to help a broken man and was rewarded with the loss of his business. After the second read through, I looked back upon my early notes about the story and was happily surprised to see the difference a mere perspective change could have on my understanding of the story.
Despite the fact that each reader will not necessarily experience the story the same way that I did, it can still be said that different perspectives will cause for a deeper understanding of the story. When on the surface I simply claimed Bartleby to be a lazy man, I read over and unconsciously and mistakenly ignored the parts of the story where it told the reader that he had lost his job as a dead letter worker. I read the story from the perspective of someone who already knew what Bartleby was like, so why bother with trivial details that add nothing to the story? The truth was that these details enhanced my understanding of the story after my second reading, and without the perspective change, I would have been completely unaware of the significant details that I missed. Perspectives color the way that a person reads a story; small details can be hugely important, and yet passed over completely by a reader simply because it is deemed inconsequential.
I agree with what you are describing in the perspective of the reader. What the reader brings to the book is almost, if not more, important than what is already written out for him or her. As an example--the first time I read the book Emma by Jane Austen, I had regarded the main character (Emma Woodhouse) as a vapid, self-absorbed girl who pursues matchmaking as a hobby. But upon a more careful reading (prompted initially by a fantastic professor of European Novels at Berk) I was persuaded to see Emma in a more informed light, devious even. Instead I was able to imagine, and through the diction in Ms. Austen's writing, even understand that Emma was in fact quite informed about life around her, and even seemed to be relating the beliefs of Jane Austen through her approach toward what Emma might consider daily struggles.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it is a fascinating experience to realize for the first time that your initial reaction to a character and story-line could be the complete opposite upon later inspection. Quite the mind trip as well-- definitely takes reading to a whole new, exciting level!
Enjoy the ride!!