A Companion to the American Short Story
Page 9
Fisher , The Gothic ’ s Gothic , 345 – 56, concern-
Gothic antecedents for detective fi ction are
ing the pervasiveness of “ German ” substance
Murch , The Development of the Detective Novel ,
in Anglo - American literary works during the
27 – 36; and Greene , John Dickson Carr , 97 – 8,
fi rst half of the nineteenth century. Continu-
109. Many of Carr ’ s detective novels reveal
ing deprecation of Poe ’ s Gothicism appears,
links with earlier Gothic works, several spe-
for
example,
in
Willard ,
“ For
Young
cifi cally with Poe ’ s stories.
Readers, ” 30; and in the “ Introduction ” to
6
Bonaparte , The Life and Works of Edgar Allan
Bloom , Edgar Allan Poe , 1 – 14.
Poe , 373 – 410. Bonaparte also suggests that
2
A contradictory, though conjectural, hypoth-
Poe himself may have been impotent, and
esis by Richard P. Benton – that “ Tarr and
that this story is autobiographical. See also
Fether
”
was composed far earlier than the
Hoffman , PoePoePoePoePoePoePoe , 244 – 5.
mid
-
1840s, and then permitted to rest for
7
Long ago, Mabbott stated that his own
some years before it was revised and pub-
identifi cations were speculative – “ On Poe ’ s
lished – has never been confi rmed. See “ Poe ’ s
‘ Tales of the Folio Club. ’ ” Cf. Hammond ,
‘
The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether
’
:
“
A Reconstruction of Poe
’
s 1833
Tales of
Dickens or Willis? ”
the Folio Club ” ; “ Further Notes on Poe ’ s
3
Mabbott , ed. Collected Works of Edgar Allan
Folio Club Tales ” ; and “ Edgar Allan Poe ’ s
Poe 2. 83, suggests that “ The Bargain Lost, ”
Tales of the Folio Club
: The Evolution of a
which, revised, became the more familiar
Lost Book. ”
“ Bon - Bon, ” may have been composed earlier
8
John H. B. Latrobe , one of the judges for the
than the other
Courier
stories. Hereinafter,
Saturday Visiter
competition, recalled many
the Mabbott edition will be cited paren-
years afterward, and probably inaccurately,
thetically within my text as CW . All cita-
that “ A Descent into the Maelstr ö m ” was
tions to/quotations from Poe
’
s poems and
among the submissions to the Visiter compe-
short fi ction are to this edition. For Poe
’
s
tition. See “ Reminiscences of Poe, ” 59. See
critical writings I cite Thompson , ed. Edgar
also Fisher , The Very Spirit of Cordiality , 3,
Allan Poe: Essays and Reviews ; hereinafter
5 – 6, 19 – 22.
Poe and the Short Story
33
9
An early negative opinion of Poe ’ s humor
10
Poe revised his original version of “ Usher ” so
appears in Boyd , “ Edgar Allan Poe. ” As late as
that Roderick and Madeline were no longer
1969 Poe ’ s comic tales were deemed “ rather
identical twins, such being a scientifi c impos-
regrettable efforts, ” by Michael Allen in Poe
sibility ( CW 2. 404). The signifi cance of the
and the British Magazine Tradition , 142. That
Ushers ’ names is noted in Mabbott ’ s “ Poe ’ s
Poe ’ s humor serves more sophisticated artistic
Vaults, ” 542 – 3.
purposes is the argument in Benton , “ Some
11
This story may also admit of comic - ironic
Remarks on Poe and His Critics, ” ii, vi, x;
readings; see Thompson , Poe ’ s Fiction , 87 – 97;
Eddings , The Naiad Voice ; Ljungquist , “ Pros-
and Fisher , “ Playful Germanism in ‘ The Fall
pects for the Study of Edgar Allan Poe, ” 178,
of the House of Usher. ’ ”
180 – 2; and Lamb , “ The Flight of the Raven. ”
References and Further Reading
Allen , Michael . Poe and the British Magazine
Lafayette, IN : Purdue University Press , 1981 .
Tradition . New York : Oxford University Press ,
355 – 74 .
1969 .
— — — . The Very Spirit of Cordiality: The Literary
Bailey , J. O. “ What Happens in ‘ The Fall of the
Uses of Alcohol and Alcoholism in the Tales of Edgar
House of Usher . ’ ” American Literature 35
Allan Poe . Baltimore : Enoch Pratt Free Library
(January 1964 ): 445 – 66 .
and the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore ,
Benton , Richard P. “ Poe ’ s ‘ The System of Dr. Tarr
1978 .
and Prof. Fether ’ : Dickens or Willis? ” Poe News-
Greene , Douglas G. John Dickson Carr: The Man
letter 1 ( 1968 ): 7 – 9 .
Who Explained Miracles . New York : Otto
— — — . “ Some Remarks on Poe and His Critics . ”
Penzler , 1995 .
University of Mississippi Studies in English n.s. 3
Hammond , Alexander . “ Edgar Allan Poe ’ s Tales of
( 1982 ): i – xii .
the Folio Club: The Evolution of a Lost Book . ”
Bloom , Harold , ed. Edgar Allan Poe: Modern Criti-
Poe at Work: Seven Textual Studies . Ed. Benjamin
cal Views . New York : Chelsea House , 1984 .
F. Fisher . Baltimore : Edgar Allan Poe Society ,
Bonaparte , Marie . The Life and Works of Edgar
1978 . 13 – 43 .
Allan Poe: A Psycho - Analytic Interpretation . Trans.
— — — . “ Further Notes on Poe ’ s Folio Club
John Rodker. London : Imago , 1949 .
Tales . ” Poe Studies 8 ( 1975 ): 38 – 42 .
Boyd , A. K. H. “ Edgar Allan Poe . ” Fraser ’ s Maga-
— — — . “ A Reconstruction of Poe ’ s 1833 Tales of
zine 55 (June 1857 ): 684 – 700 .
the Folio Club: Preliminary Notes . ” Poe Studies
Eddings , Dennis W. , ed. The Naiad Voice: Essays on
5 ( 1972 ): 25 – 32 .
Poe ’ s Satiric Hoaxing . Port Washington : Associ-
Hoffman , Daniel . PoePoePoePoePoePoePoe . Garden
ate Faculty Press , 1983 .
City, NY : Doubleday , 1972 .
Fisher , Benjamin F. “ Blackwood Articles à la Poe:
Jacobs , Robert D. Poe: Journalist and Critic .
How to Make a False Start Pay
.
”
Revue des
Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press ,
Langues Vivantes 39 ( 1973 ): 418 – 32 . Rev. rpt.,
1969 .
Perspectives on Poe . Ed. D. Ramakrishna . New
Jones , Howard Mumford . Ideas in America . Cam-
Delhi : ABC Publications , 1996 . 63 – 82 .
; bridge, MA : Harvard University Press , 1944 .
— — — . The Gothic ’ s Gothic: Study Aids to the Tradi-
Lamb , Robert Paul . “ The Flight of the Raven: A
tion of the Tale of Terror . New York : Garland ,
Retrospective on the Scholarship of G. R.
1988 .
Thompson . ” Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism 39 – 40
— — — . Playful Germanism in ‘ The Fall of the
( 2006 – 7 ): 1 – 4 .
House of Usher ’ : The Storyteller ’ s Art . ” Ruined
Latrobe , John H. B. “ Reminiscences of Poe . ”
Eden of the Present. Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe:
Edgar Allan Poe: A Memorial Volume . Ed. Sara
Critical Essays in Honor of Darrel Abel . Eds.
Sigourney Rice . Baltimore : Turnbull Brothers ,
G. R. Thompson and Virgil L. Lokke . West
1877 .
34
Benjamin F. Fisher
Ljungquist , Kent P. “ Prospects for the Study of
Spiller , Robert E. “ The Task of the Historian of
Edgar Allan Poe . ” Resources for American Literary
American Literature . ” Sewanee Review 42 ( 1935 ):
Study 21 ( 1995 ): 173 – 88 .
70 – 7 .
Mabbott , Thomas Ollive , ed. The Collected Works of
Thomas , Dwight , and David K. Jackson . The Poe
Edgar Allan Poe , vol. 2 . Cambridge, MA : Belknap
Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe 1809 –
Press of Harvard University Press . 1978 .
1849 . Boston : G. K. Hall , 1987 .
— — — . “ Introduction . ” The Collected Works of Thompson , G. R. Poe ’ s Fiction: Romantic Irony in the Edgar Allan Poe , vol. 2 . Ed. Thomas Ollive
Gothic Tales . Madison : University of Wisconsin
Mabbott , with the assistance of Eleanor D. Kewer
Press , 1973 .
and Maureen Cobb Mabbott . Cambridge, MA :
Thompson , G. R. , ed. Edgar Allan Poe: Essays and
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press . 1978 .
Reviews
.
New York
:
New American Library
,
— — — . “ On Poe ’ s ‘ Tales of the Folio Club. ’ ”
1984 .
Sewanee Review 36 ( 1928 ): 171 – 6 .
Willard , Nancy . “ For Young Readers . ” New York
— — — . “ Poe ’ s Vaults . ” Notes & Queries 98 (Decem-
Times Book Review (3 October 1976 ): 30 .
ber 1953 ): 542 – 3 .
Woolf , Paul . “ Prostitutes, Paris and Poe: The
— — — . “ The Books in the House of Usher . ” Books
Sexual Economy of Edgar Allan Poe
’ s ‘ The
at Iowa 19 (November 1973 ): 3 – 7 , 17 .
Murders in the Rue Morgue. ’ ” Clues: A Journal
Murch , Alma E. The Development of the Detective
of Detection 25 ( 2006 ): 6 – 19 .
Novel . Rev. edn. London : Peter Owen , 1968 .
3
A Guide to M elville ’ s “ B artleby,
the S crivener ”
Steven T. Ryan
Let ’ s begin with possibly the best dash in American literature:
I seldom lose my temper; much more seldom indulge in dangerous indignation at
wrongs and outrages; but I must be permitted to be rash here and declare, that I consider
the sudden and violent abrogation of the offi ce of Master in Chancery, by the new Con-
stitution, as a – premature act; inasmuch as I had counted upon a life - lease of the profi ts,
whereas I only received those of a few short years. But this is by the way. (Melville,
“ Bartleby ” 636)
This passage is best read aloud with crescendo until the abrupt cessation at the dash,
breaking with the calm, modest suggestion of a “ premature act. ” At this early moment
in the story, Melville allows his lawyer - narrator to digress, but it certainly is no arbi-
trary digression by either Melville or his narrator. For the narrator, it is an irresistible
digression, a side road he cannot avoid any time he ventures near the topic of the lost
position. For Melville it is the early moment in which he reveals the internal battle
that bubbles within this rather ordinary businessman. It is equally important that the
narrator nearly loses his temper and that he does not do so. A man whose pride is
based upon his “ prudence ” and “ method ” (636) cannot permit rage to take control.
Yet from this moment we know his self - image is contradicted by a more complex
and more confl icted personality than he is willing to accept. We also have our fi rst
clue as to what will propel him into a highly emotive state which he fi nds repugnant
in himself and in others: he cannot tolerate losing something he “ counted upon ”
(regularity) and hates to lose money (materialism). Throughout the story, these two
factors are intertwined within the narrator ’ s psyche. Both have to do with a sense of
security based upon the object world but not upon object relationships, for the nar-
rator is both a social man and a solitary man – social in the sense of his dependency
upon a social system and wealth and solitary in the sense that he actually has no one
and has nothing but the social construct of his offi ce. He stands as Melville ’ s accom-
plished man even if his accomplishments ring hollow.
36
Steven T. Ryan
Appreciation for Melville ’ s “ Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall - Street ”
requires an appreciation for the narrator. This is the central reversal within the story.
What is presented as a study of the title character is actually a study of the justifi ably
unnamed narrator. Assume for a moment that we are among the fi rst readers of the
story within the two 1853 installments of Putnam ’ s Monthly Magazine , each appearing
without authorial credit. The fi rst installment in particular gives us the voice of an
amiable gentleman commonly associated with the sketch writing of authors like
Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne. R. Bruce Bickley, Jr., makes this
association when he calls the narrator “ a Crayonesque sketcher ” (Bickley 29). The
subtitle, “ A Story of Wall - Street, ” does not necessarily shift our genre paradigm from
sketch to story. The story opens as a leisurely invitation into the comfortable world
of the narrator. As is common in sketch writing, the narrator is congenial and wants
us to share his worldly experience. He suggests that he could entertain us with the
accounts of any number of scriveners whom we would fi nd “ interesting and somewhat
singular ” but that instead he will opt to give us what he can of the “ strangest ”
( “ Bartleby ” 635). When he then continues at a casual pace through the introduction
of himself, his offi ce, and his other employees, we, if among the original readers, would
have to associate this leisurely pace more with the easy gait of sketch writing than
the intensity of either sentimental or Gothic stories. The narrative voice of nineteenth -
century sketch writing offers a sharp contrast to Poe ’ s fi nest stories. Whimsy rules
– we sense that the narrative sharing of life experiences may be enjoyed as long as we
sit back and spend our time with a narrator who is refi ned, unpretentious, and worldly.
In American literature the voice associates with Ben Franklin and Irvin
g, but actually
it dates back to the stylistic ease and syntactical purity of Addison and Steele. The
narrator ’ s introduction of himself constitutes an attempt to conform to the bemused
persona of sketch writing. This is suggested by his self - portrait as an “ unambitious
lawyer, ” comfortable in “ the cool tranquility of a snug retreat ” (635).
Of course, the dash undermines his attempt to sell himself as the quintessence of
ease and self - containment. He would like us to believe that we are sharing a highly
civil and relaxed examination of a curiosity. This assumption is gradually subverted
by our realization that the narrator is a haunted man. Just as he is compelled to fume
over the lost Master of Chancery position, he also is compelled to recount the story
of Bartleby, even if he has limited information and limited insight to help the reader
plummet the depth of Bartleby ’ s mystery. The narrator is in fact incapable of the wit
commonly associated with the sketch writer. The wit of Melville passes through the
narrator without the character ’ s awareness. The importance of understanding the nar-
rator cannot be overstressed. In the history of the short story, the characterization has
more in common with Flaubert ’ s later accomplishment with F é licit é in “ A Simple
Heart ” than with character portrayal within either the neoclassical or romantic con-
ventions. Melville and Flaubert achieve their more complex characterizations similarly
by teasing their readers with the potential of both satire and sentimentality but resist-
ing the simplifi cation inherent in either direction. On different occasions Melville ’ s
reader may laugh at the narrator ’ s rationalization and smug self - assurance or may be
“Bartleby, the Scrivener”
37
touched by his fundamental humanity. The crucial check to the reader ’ s sense of
superiority is the aching realization that we would be unlikely to do any better in
dealing with Bartleby.
The Lawyer - Narrator
Critical arguments are common in reactions to the narrator and typically hinge upon
the extent to which we either detach from him or identify with his frustrations. A
good reading of the story requires an appreciation of his central position but does not
require agreement as to whether he is closer to a satiric or a sentimental portrait.
Melville does undermine his authority, but also permits the narrator as much human-
ity as we are likely to fi nd in an employer. Consider, for example, the narrator ’ s