Similar to \u201cLife in the Iron Mills\u201d, Herman Melville\u2019s \u201cThe Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids\u201d portrays a society in which some must suffer in order for others to live comfortably. The gap between upper and low class in this society is a direct result of industrialization, as the maids in this mill live miserably in order for the bachelors to live extravagantly. However, unlike Hugh, the narrator in this novella finds that the sought after lives of the upper class actually lack substance. The narrator feels that industrialization has negatively impacted both the upper and lower class, corrupting society as a whole<\/p>\n
While the old Templars in the narrator’s society used the Temple Garden to prepare for battle, \u201cthe modern Templars now lounge on the benches beneath the tress, and, switching their patent-leather boots\u201d (Melville 1259). Pre- industrialization, Templars were focused and motivated while the modern day Templar has become lazy and somewhat useless. The narrator expresses concern that the presence of technology is eliminating the drive to work hard among the upper class. He recalls that after drinking a sufficient amount of wine at the wealthy bachelors\u2019 dinner, \u201c[c]hoice experiences in their private lives were now brought out, like choice brands of Moselle or Rhenish..\u201d (Melville 1263). The narrator sarcastically points out that he bachelor\u2019s lives are so uneventful that the most private details of their lives are as trivial as deciding what brand of wine to buy. Although the people of the upper class in this society still have extravagant things during industrialization, they actually lead unfulfilling lives.<\/p>\n
The lower class in this society is dehumanized by technology and the industrial age. The narrator refers to the mountain on which the paper mill where many poor women work as the \u201cDevil\u2019s Dungeon\u201d ( Melville1266). This name suggests that the paper mill is place of punishment and torture for the people working there. After watching the lifeless girls work the machines at the mill the narrator notes that \u201c[t]he girls did not so much seem accessory wheels to the general machinery as mere cog to the wheels\u201d (Melville 1271).\u00a0 The workers seem to have lost their humanity and exist only to serve their machines. The torturous work at the mill has caused the girls to appear as though they are actually part of the machines they operate.<\/p>\n
Technology and the industrial age have ruined this society by causing suffering among the lower class and promoting ignorance and laziness among the upper class.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Similar to \u201cLife in the Iron Mills\u201d, Herman Melville\u2019s \u201cThe Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids\u201d portrays a society in which some must suffer in order for others to live comfortably. The gap between upper and low class in this society is a direct result of industrialization, as the maids in this mill<\/p>\n