It raises issues about the issues raised and it’s important to consider the issues that it raises because it raises issues about whether raising issues is an issue all of its self or the issue needs to be raised before the raising of the issue because it raises issues. It raises issues.
@charlesdexterward7781Ай бұрын
Simping 1960's style.
@TheRedCyndaquil2 ай бұрын
did not pick up on the name, very cool idea read the story two days ago and there's so much in so few pages thanks from the future
@skittzen69102 ай бұрын
Thanks, this book was confusing and boring to read but you're good at explaining
@lizmedina25272 ай бұрын
What I found merits comment is the relationship that develops between Bartleby and his employer and narrator of the story. The impact that Bartleby has on the latter. From being a utilitarian pragmatist he slowly grows entrapped by disconcertment that turns into a kind of helpless and futile empathy before the spectacle of a human being who self-destructs in a wilfull autism. The story is moving because we recognize ourselves in both characters.
@AnnaLynne32 ай бұрын
To me the brick wall represents the idea that the outside world does not impact your thinking and individualism just like his boss couldn't impose anything on B
@firstlast-gr9xs3 ай бұрын
You apparently hate men, wanting them to be gay ..
@danpeacock26303 ай бұрын
I'm reading this now, I'm up to 14. It breaks my heart to see that everything our forefathers fought to free us from under England's oppression has resurfaced right here and from our own leaders. It doesn't get better on its own, as history speeds up to repeat itself, I wonder when it will happen again. When will the people finally ROAR, "Enough. Start Over"
@TiffyVella13 ай бұрын
Thankyou so much for this. Your insight is wonderful and adds a lot to the enjoyment of Jackson's story. I have come in late but good literature is timeless, so here we are. Just adding a small comment that it is really hard to read any mention of the dear Jeremy Bentham without hearing a sprightly little voice singing "Bentham's head!", and for that we have to thank Caitlyn Doughty, our Good Mortician.
@bluesunpeg4 ай бұрын
Holy shit.
@JaziahGoHard6 ай бұрын
Great summary! 10 years later this is still a certified hood classic.
@user-bp9of6fe7r6 ай бұрын
Ithank he give the last chI think it gives him his last chance to change😂
@ericfurniss28427 ай бұрын
Basing your reality on lies corrupts the soul and spirit. Objective truth in nature is the way to go. Gravity is objectively the same for everyone, regardless of theology, race, etc. If the Creator wanted us to all follow something, wouldn't it be universally obvious? These are some awesome points brought up by Mr. Paine. I am grateful for his wtitings, as I had rejected religion and thought myself an Atheist as a teen. Upon reading Age of Reason, I became a Deist. I base me beliefs on absolute truths and follow the Golden Rule. Its kind of lonely, so I go undercover to a nonDenominational Christian church. Its weird for me, as I believe JC was the man, just not the way the rest of the congregation (very fine people, whose faith I appreciate ) does. Great video, you are very fair and accurate.
@sudecarter42747 ай бұрын
THANK YOU THANK YOU
@tuamigomiguel7 ай бұрын
¡Facinante! ¡Ni idea tenía yo!
@user-kr9nm8kb1o7 ай бұрын
Как говорил Фрейд, иногда сигара - это просто сигара. Двое американцев в Италии запреты плохой погодой и не могут общаться с другими. Жена хандрит и капризничает, а муж, как человек с более устойчивое психикой, спокойно лежит и читает. И на жену он обращает внимание, как мужчина, а не слушает её капризы. Образ хозяина - это образ сильного и далёкого отца, при котором можно чувствовать себя маленькой и значительной. Муж не так относится к своей жене, хотя бы потому, что он и не отец. И когда жена говорит о том, что хочет свой дом с накрытым столом, то муж отвечает фразой "заткнись". Видимо, он тоже раздражается. А когда служанка приносит кошку, то выясняется, что это другая кошка. То есть дело не в кошке, а в надвигающемся кризис е в паре. Хозяин, как отец поступил, а муж, как мужчина. И потом, как из коротких волос сделать длинные, как из гостиницы переместиться в свой дом? Ничего, завтра дождь пройдёт, выйдет солнце и всё наладится. Может быть.
@CaitlinJBall8 ай бұрын
What a fun exercise, and such interesting conclusions. I don’t think there was a villain exactly. I study a lot of psychology, just for fun not professionally, but it seemed to me that the woman had very low self-esteem and was struggling to find a way to make herself happy. Seeking external means of completion for an internal emotional dilemma. Her behaviors all indicated that she was looking for external approval. Either from her husband, the cat, or the others she interacted with. While her husband seemed content to read, he also tried to reassure his wife. Back then women often sold their hair for extra pocket money, and that might have been the case here. She may have even sold it to help pay for their vacation in Italy. Despite the fact she didn’t like her haircut he attempted to assure her that he was still attracted to her. When she refused to be consoled, he grew impatient. This is actually something that happens a lot with couples. They’ll get upset when they feel like there is nothing they can do to make their spouse happy. My husband and I joke that it’s actually the thing we fight about most. I’ll do something to try and make him happy and he’ll turn around and try to make me happy and we’ll stress ourselves out working so hard to make the other person happy that both of us will get frustrated because neither of us can achieve our goals. In the end the solution is simple, to stop focusing on trying to make your spouse happy and instead do something to make yourself happy. In a way they’re both doing exactly what they should be. The husband is reading and has found a way to be content while she is continuing to search for something to make herself happy, the only problem is she’s failing, and that disrupts the husband’s happiness. Not because he’s angry at her exactly, but because he wants her to be happy. The problem overall is likely the way she’s going about it. There's a story I know that might explain why that is. It goes something like this: A monk goes about his day and decides he wants to read a book, but he doesn’t have one. He asks his master for a book and the master says, “No.” Stunned at the refusal for a book he asks his master, “But why? Why can’t I have a book to read?” and the master tells him, “Because, if you have a book, you’ll want a shelf to put it on. When you have a shelf, you’ll want to fill it with more books. Wanting and having only leads to more wanting and that is the path of greed which will not make you happy.” This is only what I vaguely remember from it. But the idea is that rather than wishing for what we don’t have we should learn to be grateful with the things we do have. To be happy for them. There is no way to happiness through possession. Happiness is the way. Or something like that. The woman may also be externalizing her worry over the cat being out in the rain. Sometimes we reassign our emotions to things that have nothing to do with them. Searching for a solution to fix the way we feel when we’ve faced a problem that seems unsolvable. She wanted to help the cat, but she couldn’t find it. So, she starts thinking of other problems she can fix, things that are more inside her control. Growing her hair out or getting nice silver. Only they aren’t the thing that’s making her upset so they won’t solve the issue. (This is useful to know if you have kids. They will sometimes become overly emotional over small issues. The first thing you should do is make sure they’ve had enough water, healthy food, and sleep. If they’re missing any of these, it’s probably led toward their overreaction of the situation. Something is wrong, and their brain is telling them something is wrong, but they don’t know what it is so their conscious mind is looking for problems to solve and blowing many of them way out of proportion. That doesn’t mean their problems are invalid, but once they’re hydrated, fed, and well rested, they may feel silly about not presenting that issue in a calmer manner.) Overall, the hero of the story is the person who brings her the cat at the end. They are the ones acting selflessly and, following that logic they’re likely the happiest within the story.
@alpetterson94528 ай бұрын
My theory is very similar to one below in the comments. Why it's not more widely held I believe is entirely due to the problem people have with accepting and understanding sadness. They would rather ignore the subject. The letters B opened in the Dead Letter Office are a key. How must it feel to be reminded daily about the failed attempts of friends to help each other when the simple fact that a letter is lost can mean the destruction of a life. Or the death of someone not knowing that they were not forgotten. Another indicator for me are the odd characters that turn up in Moby Dick (Bullington) and Redburn and other stories. Characters who are never fully explained and simply disappear. Also remember Melville was a guy who went to sea. Seafaring was a profession chosen by many people who were either down on their luck or otherwise running from the society of others. Melville never TACKED on anything to his novels. Certainly not the Dead Letter Office.
@PungiFungi8 ай бұрын
The practices of male circumcision and female genital mutilation came into my mind. Both are essentially the same thing but of course, Americans believe that WE are right when we do it. And some people to this day continued to rationalize and justify both despite all of the evidence to the contrary. It is tradition, usually hidden behind a lie about medical benefits.
@goodleshoes8 ай бұрын
Beautiful voice
@lawrences.oconnell90139 ай бұрын
Thanks for your analysis. You opened my thoughts to a the spiritual ideas O’Connor intended.
@kage-Da43339 ай бұрын
I'm forced to study this idiot and his hideous philosophies this is absolute ludicrous!!!
@danab1729 ай бұрын
Awesome! Thanks!
@marya_shames9 ай бұрын
thank you so much
@edsapp66789 ай бұрын
Everyone knows the rain is the villain of this story😂😂
@edsapp66789 ай бұрын
Seems to point out how easy it is to make a stranger happy but how hard it can be to make someone happy that we have been around more than half of our lives
@user-bp9of6fe7r6 ай бұрын
Please explain more
@AndyLeeGraham9 ай бұрын
"I am writing a book related to Thoreau. Can I interview you? I am Andy Lee Graham, a book writer, and videographer, I'm a world traveler."
@pshaw840610 ай бұрын
It's insane to move offices rather than fire an employee.
@Lil_skrull10 ай бұрын
I am navajo and the night chant ceremony is sacred and its only done in winter there are nine nights and two nights. The dancers are called the yeii bi cheii.the yeii bi cheii help people when they have a sickness or if they have health problems. There's sandpainting in the ceremony too. Your not supposed to draw them not supposed make mask and not supposed to make rugs of them.
@craven811410 ай бұрын
world transformation movement blake explained
@lawcane11 ай бұрын
I thought that Tessie wasn't a very sympathetic character because she was a willing participant until her husband pulled the marked paper. She wouldn't have called it unfair if Dunbar or Graves had pulled it. With my students I compared it to the war on drugs, where middle America supported min-man sentences and harsh drug laws, until the opiod crisis hit and then all of sudden these people who had wanted this harsh, draconian drug laws now were saying these laws were unfair because it was their family members being sent to prison.
@wiktoriapaak101111 ай бұрын
thank you for this very helpful video. i am learning about the culture of Navajo people and you made me understand it better:)
@justinkotz5515 Жыл бұрын
Depression is boredom with idiots and minutia
@justinkotz5515 Жыл бұрын
Perfect. Dead letters office. No appetite. “I prefer not to” - “But I’m not particular”
@johntracey9718 Жыл бұрын
Thanks….Some interesting interpretations to consider👍
@JMcKey21 Жыл бұрын
Thankfully, my English teacher made Paine’s Common Sense required reading. I was hooked and quickly found my way the Age of Reason. Which led me to deism and eventually atheism. ❤
@idkwhy77Ай бұрын
Cool why the jump from deism to atheism
@JMcKey21Ай бұрын
@@idkwhy77 Paine’s deism was very natural and an impersonal god. He used god to find the beauty of nature. But I think if Paine had seen the scientific advances such as evolution, chemistry and physics he may have also moved to atheism. This type of impersonal deism (something that started the universe and then is hands off no miracles or interfence) is so very close atheism. If you just replaced the word god with “the process that started the universe” it’s basically atheism.
@idkwhy77Ай бұрын
@@JMcKey21 atheism implies the lack of a conscious being prior to the bang. Paine, being a deist, cannot make personal ideas of god as deism has no revelation or source of connection to God, making him unknown and leaving creation of the perfect system for life, as the only way to know him. Most Atheists I know, believe that natural processing and events over time caused the things we have now which is vastly different from the belief of a conscious being causing it. The scientific advancements we discover according to Paine's age of reason are just us discovering more about creation and the world around us that God had given and created. He gave the gift of abundance, where we already have everything we technically need.
@joewitous6281 Жыл бұрын
This is a very good analysis. It will help with my second reading of the story. It will be an even more enjoyable reading experience with this valuable insight. Thank you!
@rebeccamccauley4513 Жыл бұрын
I always thought it was about power and paralysis. That although opposites they can coexist. She has extraordinary power but it is only awakened when someone else is handling her. Then briefly she experiences the thrill of (almost) feeling alive but never quite getting there.
@mattneillninasmom Жыл бұрын
Without knowledge of Asperger's Syndrome, Melville accurately describes Bartleby's behavior as someone "on the spectrum" of autism. Read the symptoms and you will see the similar traits.
@dianamckibben8441 Жыл бұрын
I'm sort of obsessed with this story and return to it every 12 to 15 months. Your commentary was the BEST . Thank you.
@TheSaltydog07 Жыл бұрын
You could be a Melville if you look up the Word.
@Benkerosadon7890 Жыл бұрын
Mr. Courtwright. You bring the character Meursault to life. I felt like I was listening to Meursault talk. You do an outstanding job summarizing this chapter. A pleasure listening to you Sir!
@jhanralphpalogan6211 Жыл бұрын
you saved a whole quarter of my school year 9 years ago
@mscrunchy68 Жыл бұрын
To me he reads as someone having undergone a psychedelic mind-expanding experience - the letting go of ego and the sense of connectedness. The sense of awe and of kindness is immensely comforting. I like to listen to it being read aloud. Just wonderful.
@Liliquan Жыл бұрын
The capitalist critique is not that he fails at upward mobility. As if his attitude would be completely different if he had only been a manager. The critique is that capitalism is soulless and makes machine of man. Which is literally his job. A human typewriting machine. The same treatment that Melville received from his publishers. The life sacrificing rebellion that Bartleby represents is far more radical than “I wish I was the one in control of the business”.
@Liliquan Жыл бұрын
In regards to the claims some make about depression….. “Some commentators have suggested severe depression as Bartleby’s ailment, but the evidence does not support this. Bartleby searched for the job interview, he worked diligently for a few days in order to establish himself in the office, then purposively did nothing. A person with severe depression would find it difficult to generate the energy to search for work, let alone articulate ‘prefer’. More likely they would be distressed, sad, monosyllabic, dishevelled, paralytically unmotivated, distressed, crying. Melville attributed none of this Bartleby. Throughout the story, Bartleby was able to arrange purchase of biscuits and functioned, albeit within the limits of his volition. His mood was at most subdued.” Melville’s Bartleby: An absurd casualty Simon Wein
@VolcanoHotTub Жыл бұрын
While I can understand that interpretation, I don't find it very consistent. The other characters do not suffer from the same machine-like traits. Bartleby's lack of effort in his life is his own decision, and perhaps this is his response to capitalism, sure. However, I think that Bartleby represents an aspect of human nature where one's own competence can lead to boredom and aimlessness. If we feel as though we are "done" searching for our place in life, we begin to regress. Bartleby has, frankly, an infantile response to reality. If he prefers not to, then what does he prefer to do? If he prefers socialism, or some other system, then why is he trudging through meaningless, bureaucratic work and not, say, working on a farm? If he prefers nothing, then he has no real case for civil disobedience. I think it's fair to say, capitalist or not, that the onus is on us to figure out what we want to do with our lives. It is also our responsibility to address reality. It can be difficult, especially for creative minds, to reconcile the harsh and mundane truths of the world with a sense of purpose for our lives. Still, while Bartleby is - in my words- infantile, he also does have a sort of freedom that "more civilized" people do not have. He is free from "civilized" expectations. I take it that Bartleby pigeonholed himself into dead end jobs because he knew he could fulfill the responsibilities, but struggles to feel purpose because the jobs are below him in some way, maybe spiritual. And then he discovered that he really doesn't have to do anything at all, which is true philosophically; but he takes it literally, which allows him to escape from the duty to find purpose. Vicious cycle of a lost intelligent mind. Obviously, the story has many interpretations, but I see it as a sort of tragedy. Could Bartleby have really never found a drive or purpose? If he was consciously objecting to the modern world, then does he really have a place in the modern world? Yet he still remains until the point of imprisonment. Could Bartleby's attitude have been the result of perspectives that he should have explored and communicated? To me it seems plain nihilistic to say he was just a victim, destined to be scrubbed out for his own dispositions. THAT is lazy, more so than doing nothing at a job; to think that we have no say in our lives or our happiness and to just give up. In a way, Bartleby is a hero for objecting to mediocrity and the soullessness of the machine, and in a way, he's just lost - in his own world. He was unreachable for those around him, either due to a secret, unmanaged brilliance, or due to simple resignation of will. It could be that his employer and coworkers were more simple than him and more easily shepherded into conformity, and it could be that he was actually just confusing occupation for purpose and thus became paralyzed by the bleakness of such an existence. I find the story fascinating because it inspires many conversations and introspective thoughts, and I would be curious to hear what anybody has to say to this: what justifiable reason could there be to continue to show up for arrangements you prefer not to fulfill? And furthermore, if we all agree to follow a set of rules and conduct in order to maintain society, then at what point are our preferences actually counter-productive? If you respond with, "I prefer not to say," then I will laugh my ass off.
@kusumtiwary1646 Жыл бұрын
THANKYOU! VERY MUCH
@tudorhappy1650 Жыл бұрын
Super vid ! You look good ,while going with your fingers through your hair .🍹
@avivastudios2311 Жыл бұрын
Oh, so WE'RE the gun? I thought she meant that she was about to get shot but then got carried away. Interesting how we thought of it differently.
@VidMediumNS Жыл бұрын
i don't think this has anything to do with marxism, capitalism, or anything economic. Honestly I find the character Bartleby is simply someone who wants to do what they want to do and doesn't want to do what he doesn't want to do. I find he is very self centered and self sabotaging. Someone who doesn't want to engage with others, but follows his own decisions despite what anyone offers him even to his own death. He chooses to not comply, not to engage, not to accept. He's not a hero, he's not a spokesperson for anything. He is a warning to everyone that choosing your own feelings can lead you to want to do nothing, be nothing. Like the narrator says, either you choose what to do, or something will choose for you. He chose nothing, but in the end something chose him. Death. Why you all think it has something to do with economics is because THAT is the thing you are choosing not to be apart of. That is the thing you would rather do nothing about until something is done.
@Howdypartner69420 Жыл бұрын
In better terms, Arnold was a good friend and gave it to her good somewhere in the woods probably