The story about Bartleby seems to have a feeling of hopelessness and sorrow. The character is very misunderstood, and as a result nobody knows how to deal with him. They manage to get him out of their own lives, but perhaps not in the best possible way. As a result, he dies. Even so, the people that kicked him out don’t feel directly responsible because they didn’t kill him with their own hands. Once he was out of their lives, most people forgot about Bartleby. It was out of sight, out of mind. The main lawyer was the only one who showed any compassion.
Many of us had these same feelings about the war in Iraq, judging from our week one posts. We expressed sorrow for all the men dying, on both sides, but also feel hopeless to change the situation. The difference is, the people who kicked Bartleby could have, perhaps, done more than my peers and myself can about the war. They were frustrated, much like we are, because we have never experienced this problem before and don’t know what to do about it. Perhaps we can do more than we think we can, but we just can’t see those options now because we’re in the middle of it. The men in the story didn’t feel that they had any means to help Bartleby.
What can we do except try to put the war out of our minds and go on with our daily lives? Does it do to dwell on things we cannot change? These questions arise in both the story and in our lives. Sometimes people forget to stay sane. What good does it do to go crazy and make yourself upset over something that can’t be helped?
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