12/27/2022 0 Comments Texas news headlines![]() What are we to make of all these escape artists populating our national literature? If literature represents the dream life of a people, then the American dream has been complicated from the beginning. Cormac McCarthy quietly quitting the literary spotlight. ![]() Salinger’s Holden Caulfield quitting all that is “phony.” Joseph Heller’s creatively passive Captain John Yossarian, who signs his letters “Washington Irving,” and occasionally “Irving Washington,” in his own tribute to the visionary father of American letters. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man quitting the demands of both the white world and a too-narrow Black identity. Zora Neale Hurston’s quitting the glamorous Harlem Renaissance scene in favor of her native Florida. The recluse Emily Dickinson quietly quitting the strictures of feminine respectability. Henry David Thoreau, who retreats to Walden Pond. We could go on: Huck Finn lighting out for the territories. “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off -then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” Ishmael’s amazing whaling voyage begins when, after so famously introducing himself, he explains the reasons he goes to sea: ![]() Bartleby’s mantra, “I would prefer not to,” is the clearest possible articulation of the quiet quitter’s credo. Forgot your password? Click here to sign-in and subscribe via a link sent to your email.The Quiet Quitter Hall of Fame, if there were such a thing, would include many canonical American literary figures - among them, two of Herman Melville’s creations: “Bartleby the Scrivener” and the epic hero Ishmael, narrator of Moby-Dick. Please ensure your password has at least 8 characters, an uppercase and a lowercase letter, and a number or symbol. Use at least 8 characters, an uppercase and a lowercase letter, and a number or symbol. You can unsubscribe whenever you want.īy clicking 'Sign in and Subscribe' you agree to us subscribing you to our newsletter in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.Įmail: (change email) Create Account and Subscribe Sign in and Subscribe We will not share your email address with any third parties. Already have an account? Don't already have an account?īy clicking 'Create Account and Subscribe' you agree to us creating an account for you and subscribing you to our newsletter in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.Įmails, which may be sent daily or less frequently, may include marketing elements. Please click 'Create Account and Subscribe' to create a new account and subscribe to our email alerts. We don't have an account for this email address. Please click 'Sign in and Subscribe' to continue. Please check you have typed it correctly.Īn existing account was found for this email address. We are sorry, but the email address you entered does not appear to be valid. Create Account and Subscribe Sign in and Subscribe Subscribe to our email alert of the day's top stories from the UK and around the world. Sign up for a FREE NewsNow account and get our email alert of the day's top stories from the UK and around the world. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |