For those who will read this, I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. This is the topic of my Midterm on Teusday but I can't wait till after that to get opinions on this. It's kind of new to me and I've never really thought about it before but I would prefer to expand my views on it. I'm hoping a lot will read it and respond. Here it is, it's not too long:
http://www.bartleby.com/129/
The question I'm asking is, what do you feel about the difference between assumptions and preferences? To get the idea of what I'm talking about, I'll type the small text added to the end of my copy that very shortly introduces the theme of the story:
ASSUMPTIONS VERSUS PREFERENCES
At one point in the story the narrator notes that Bartleby is "more a man of preferences than assumptions." Consider some of the implications stemming from Bartleby's preferences and the narrator's "doctrine of assumptions." It is generally assumed that persons will do what is expected of them. Indeed, it would seem as if society functions on the basis of such assumptions. Police officers are supposed to pursue lawbreakers; nurses are expected to care fot the sick; it is assumed that business people will try to satisfy their customers and make profits; and we could go on and on. Normally human beings act according to such assumptions, and society runs smoothly.
But where do such assumptions leave the individual? Are we nothing more than the sum of the expectations of others? Are we bound by others' assumptions and not free to act on the basis of our preferences? Notice precisely what it is assumed that Bartleby will do (and cheerfully, yet!): he will spend the greater part of his waking hours, six days a week, slavishly copying words and then go through them all a second time to make sure he has not miscopied any. During those hours he will "live" in a little cubicle, isolated from everyone, his only view of the outside world being a "dead" wall. In short walled in on Wall Street, Bartleby is being dehumanized by a system of assumptions that leaves no room for human preference. In his "I would prefer not to," he is reaffirming his independence against the very warp and woof of the social fabric.
That's it. Feel free to link this to life(obviously), politics, religion or whatever you want. Yes, that's right, I'm welcoming all views under one condition. No flames at all^^
side note: If there are any grammar errors in the passage I typed please disregard them if possible for it is 2:11 am and I really would prefer not to read through it again^^
For those who will read this, I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. This is the topic of my Midterm on Teusday but I can't wait till after that to get opinions on this. It's kind of new to me and I've never really thought about it before but I would prefer to expand my views on it. I'm hoping a lot will read it and respond. Here it is, it's not too long:
http://www.bartleby.com/129/
The question I'm asking is, what do you feel about the difference between assumptions and preferences? To get the idea of what I'm talking about, I'll type the small text added to the end of my copy that very shortly introduces the theme of the story:
ASSUMPTIONS VERSUS PREFERENCES
At one point in the story the narrator notes that Bartleby is "more a man of preferences than assumptions." Consider some of the implications stemming from Bartleby's preferences and the narrator's "doctrine of assumptions." It is generally assumed that persons will do what is expected of them. Indeed, it would seem as if society functions on the basis of such assumptions. Police officers are supposed to pursue lawbreakers; nurses are expected to care fot the sick; it is assumed that business people will try to satisfy their customers and make profits; and we could go on and on. Normally human beings act according to such assumptions, and society runs smoothly.
But where do such assumptions leave the individual? Are we nothing more than the sum of the expectations of others? Are we bound by others' assumptions and not free to act on the basis of our preferences? Notice precisely what it is assumed that Bartleby will do (and cheerfully, yet!): he will spend the greater part of his waking hours, six days a week, slavishly copying words and then go through them all a second time to make sure he has not miscopied any. During those hours he will "live" in a little cubicle, isolated from everyone, his only view of the outside world being a "dead" wall. In short walled in on Wall Street, Bartleby is being dehumanized by a system of assumptions that leaves no room for human preference. In his "I would prefer not to," he is reaffirming his independence against the very warp and woof of the social fabric.
That's it. Feel free to link this to life(obviously), politics, religion or whatever you want. Yes, that's right, I'm welcoming all views under one condition. No flames at all^^
side note: If there are any grammar errors in the passage I typed please disregard them if possible for it is 2:11 am and I really would prefer not to read through it again^^ 
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