Wednesday, November 10, 2010

my thoughts

Out of the stories we read this week, I would say that "Hunters in the Snow" was my favorite. Although I disliked how self-centered the characters were, I found it most interesting and easy to follow. I also noticed a lot of humor and irony in these stories. During "Everyday Use", I found it ironic that Dee wanted to fully appreciate African culture when she had put so much effort into rejecting it throughout her childhood. She made it no secret that she hated her house and where she came from, but then later on she wanted to preserve pieces of her history - like the quilts. Whereas Maggie and her mother had appreciated their heritage all along, Dee only did superficially.

What I found most humorous about Melville's piece was the character of Bartleby. On page 670, when the narrator is trying to find a new and suitable career for Bartleby, he says "I would not like it at all; though, as I said before, I am not particular". The lawyer questions him about several different businesses he could enter and everytime his answer is the same: he would prefer not to do any of them though he is not particular. Here is a clear example of verbal irony. While Bartleby keeps stating that he is not particular, he is in fact quite the opposite. He is very particular in the fact that he prefers to do nothing at all and will not do anything that does not suit him. He must have been a frustrating character for the others to deal with.

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