"Freedom to assert oneself; Non-conformity"

RESPONSES

  The first passage I read for today's topic was, Sunflower Sutra, by Allen Ginsberg. It was hard for me to grasp the main concept of the poem the first time I read it, but after a closer reading I feel that I was able to see Ginsberg's message. The poem's first stanza places the author looking out upon an industrialized world: "... look at the sunset over the box hills and cry." The author seems upset at urbanization of his surroundings. In the third stanza he uses many illustrations to depict how urbanization has affected the landscape: "The oily water on the river mirrored the red sky...". Human's have made the river virtually inhabitable. The author then discovers a sunflower. To me, this sunflower represented America. The author depicted the sunflower as a last glimmer of hope for America to return to its roots and not conform: "The grime was no man's grime but death and human locomotives." The author symbolizes the locomotive as the deterioration and conformity of America. Ginsberg recalls his time in New York, and how industrialization had ruined the beauty of the city (lines 15-19). I think that Ginseng sees this same type of urban decay occurring out West where he is located, hand this hurts him very much. Ginseng portrays non-conformity as the bleak and polluted sunflower. Although he is faced with the conformity of urbanization, he still views the sunflower as hope that America can reverse the conformity. Ginsberg feels that he can bring back this natural beauty to America and that human's are innately good on the inside, just like the sunflower.

 The second and last text for today's reading was, Bartleby the Scrivener, by Herman Melville. I was familiar with this author's work, as I had read Moby Dick in high school. Before I began reading this short story, I first had to look up the definition of "scrivener". I learned that it was another word for scribe, and was traditionally a person who could read and write and hired as a secretary. The story is told by an lawyer on Wall Street. He is an older man, and already has two scriveners working under him when Bartleby is hired. The lawyer's first view of Bartleby is a good one: "At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing". His only issue at the time was the lack of enthusiasm Bartleby possessed. However, one day the lawyer asks Bartleby to help him compare some papers. He is surprised to hear Bartleby's response of "I would prefer not to." The lawyer was even more astonished at the calm manner in which Bartleby refused his request. This came as a shock to me as well, and I wondered why Bartleby would refuse such a simple task. As I continued reading the story, I learned that "I would prefer not to" became a daily response from Bartleby. To my surprise, the lawyer does not fire him and just assigns his work to the other scriveners, Turkey and Nippers. To me, Bartleby's refusal to do work of any kind was his way of non-conforming, albeit a very risky one seeing that the tasks asked of him were in his job description. I think Bartleby was a very individualistic person, and would change this for anyone, not even his boss. Another part that puzzled me was Bartleby's refusal to answer even general questions his boss posed to him: " 'Will you tell me Bartleby, where you were born.' " Barlteby would even refuse to eat! Maybe his refusal to do anything was spurned by his previous job where he was assigned to read " Dead Letters"; the author never really gives an explanation for Bartleby's behavior.

  Although the theme of both of these texts  are individuality and non-conformation, I do not think that it is being celebrated. In either story, the "non-conformists" had to face constant  adversity and multiple attempts to be conformed. The benefits in Sunflower Sutra seem to be that being a non-conformist inspires others to do the same.

QUESTIONS

1. What was really the cause of Bartleby's refusals? Previous work experience? Discontentment with the basis of Wall Street (money)?

CONNECTIONS

• Urbanization has become what America is known for around the world, is it possible to be a non-conformist in today's society? (ie Amish communities)