The Theme of Power in Yellow Wallpaper and Bartleby
Many texts written in the nineteenth century have a very apparent theme of power. Authority can be seen very differently depending on the view of the transcript the audience is presented with. By looking at different transcripts within the text the reader has more realistic exposure to the resistance of power in that text. This paper will prove that transcripts of differing views allow for different interpretations of the power struggle itself. Using James C. Scott this paper will examine the transcripts of both Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Herman Melville's "Bartleby." These two texts are opposite in many ways, which make them fascinating to study through Scotts eyes, because together they extensively cover the four situations he focuses on.
The first transcript which Scott discusses is that of the public's view. He describes that "the public transcript is to put it crudely, the self-portrait of dominant elites as they would have themselves seen"(18). Since the narrator of "Bartleby" is a member of the "dominant elite" this text is a great example of how the public transcript is used to show resistance and power. Text written from this point of view, focus on trying to make the elite seem good, just, and noble. The narrator of this text did a wonderful job at doing just that. At one point while talking about Bartleby he told the audience "Not only did there seem to lurk in it a certain calm disdain, but his perverseness seemed ungrateful, considering the undeniable good usage and indulgence he had received from me"(Melville 18). The narrator was basically saying, I was so good to Bartleby, how dare he not appreciate all my kindness. It is...
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...isplay, how within texts there could be many different forms of resistance and views of authority, depending on the transcripts used to understand them. Each text read in this class, on the surface value, provides an entertaining story, however the same text through deeper reading are able to decode much more complex plots. On the surface Bartleby is just a very strange employee, and the narrator of Gilman's story is just an insane woman, but by digging further this paper was able to display much more intensity to them both.
Works Cited
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper" and other Stories. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1997.
Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. 3rd ed. NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1990.
Scott, James C. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.
“Civil Disobiedence.” The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. New York: McGraw Hill 2009. Print
In a fission reaction, the nucleus of an atom is split. Neutrons are released, forming nuclear energy, and the remaining nuclei are lighter.1 Think of fission a little bit like opening a nutshell, for example, a pistachio. As you put pressure and force into breaking the shell, it breaks in two and pieces may fly off. Similarly, when the atoms are forced apart, they break in two and neutrons fly away and energy is released.
The two families were just some of those that really cared although all had different stand points and views they stuck to their beliefs and ended with more love for each other in the end than they ever started with. In the white family there was the conservative ex-marine father who loved his children dearly but wanted them to be well behaved and often was hard on them. The mother was more liberal housewife who stood up for her and her children’s opinions to her husband. The oldest son Brian was a football star in high school and later goes on to join the marines and fight in Vietnam. The middle child Michael was very liberal active anti war student who marched with the blacks in the Birmingham. The youngest Katie was a young 16 year old who loved to party and have a good time. The black family was a family of good hearts and lots of hope.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "Why I Wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper'" Ed. Catherine Lavender; The College of Staten Island of the City University of New York, Fall Semester, Oct. 1997. (25 Jan 1999) http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/whyyw.html
Herman Melville uses a first person point of view to show the narrator’s first hand fascination with his employee Bartleby, as well as Bartleby’s strange behavior and insubordination.
Wohlpart, Jim. American Literature Research and Analysis Web Site. “Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.”” 1997. Florida Gulf Coast University
Wagner-Martin, Linda. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. 981- 982.
Throughout history most of the world’s documented accounts have been interoperated by the powerful elites. History is the story of mankind; therefore like most stories, history has two perspectives. After the end of the Second World War, historians began looking to other ways of analyzing history. With the rise of the hippie movement, Vietnam War, women’s rights movement, civil rights movement, and the cold war historians started questioning how, why, and what caused society to get like this. The consensus movement was started as historians first observed the primary sources of the outsiders of society. This ultimately led to authors like Dan Richter, Woody Holton, and Walter Johnson who all look to the opposite point of view through historical events. In order to teach history correctly, we as future historians must teach a two sided interpretation of both the powerful and the powerless. Ultimately by understanding the loser’s suffrage in society that is proposed in Dan Richter’s Facing East from Indian Country,” and Walter Johnson’s Soul By Soul; as well as the outsider point of view as described in Woody Holton’s Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution; and Tyler Anbinder’s and Vincent DiGirolamo’s articles contributed to the film “Gangs of New York, we can understand how their beliefs, culture, and lives were affected by the powerful. This essay is not a novel of the history of the outsiders themselves, but a critique on how history should be studied by looking at the author’s way of using primary sources and the outsiders’ perspective on society. IN THE ESSAY I WILL BE LOOKING AT THE COMPLETE POWERLESS TO THE POWERLESS
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Booth, Alison and Kelly J. Mays, eds. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2010. 354-65. Print.
Jones, Barry A. "Resisting The Power Of Empire: The Theme Of Resistance In The Book Of
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