Short Fiction

I may be a new convert to those who are enthusiastic about short fiction. As professor Benedicks said, short fiction hardly wastes a single line of prose in its mission to deliver its message in some small number of pages. Each story has had me eager to continue reading and find out what happens, and by the end of the story, I often wish the stories would continue. This behavior contrasts my reading habits of novels quite sharply; where I often become annoyed with the slow plot and fluff done with the intent of making a tome that can be sold for a high price.
My favorite story so far has been Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener. In addition to my own curiosity over the story’s depth and implications, the classroom discussion built upon the story’s innate enigmatic qualities. Questions concerning the story’s critique of society, Bartleby’s likeness to different schools of philosophers, and Bartleby’s motivations were well formed and very helpful to thinking about the story. I think an in-depth analysis deeply rooted in the literature would be an excellent paper topic.
I also enjoyed Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterful two –fold persecution of the pious puritan culture. At the witch’s Sabbath, when no one attending could assume moral superiority over the other sinners and saints stood together and sang praises in unison. I do not feel Hawthorne was saying that religious leaders are witches, just that they have sins and vices like the people they persecute and look down upon. However, Hawthorne does not leave his allegorical critique at the witch’s Sabbath. He continues his critique of piousness in Goodman Browne’s behavior following the witch’s meeting. Goodman Browne dies sad and alone because he assumes everyone around him is evil and trusts no one. This concludes Hawthorne’s critique, but the last turn, when the initially good Goodman Browne turns his back on his neighbors, has a severe lasting effect.
The class has already shown short fiction to be a powerful piece of literature.