In her short story \u201cThe Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids,\u201d Melville uses the apparent juxtaposition of the different locations to show how factories are turning America into Hell. There are several juxtapositions within the text besides the two in the title. Melville uses different scenery descriptions, different genders, and ultimately the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell.<\/p>\n
In the \u201cParadise of Bachelors,\u201d the narrator uses colorful descriptions whereas in \u201cTartarus of Maids\u201d he uses bleak, dull, and harsh descriptions. The narrator describes the vast feasts, drinks, and other luxuries such as brotherhood and \u201csnuff\u201d to depict the Bachelors. The entire second section, however, is constantly described negatively. The \u201cDungeon\u201d is surrounded by dark forests and the \u201cBlood River.\u201d Even down to the surrounding areas, the heart of New England, America is cold, cryptic, and prison-like. Additionally, instead of a brotherhood, the narrator steps into the factory and sees that \u201cat rows of blank-looking counters sat rows of blank-looking girls, with blank, white folders in their blank hands, all blankly folding blank paper,\u201d (Melville 1270). The girls are totally separated from one another, doing their own jobs with \u201cblank\u201d stares as if their lives meant nothing. Melville uses the imagery of paper to both symbolize the colorlessness of the factory life as well as the meaninglessness of the girls\u2019 lives. There is nothing written on that paper, and so it is as if there is nothing to document their lives, and they are unable to share their thoughts. Thus, the narrator uses different types of descriptions to show that the factory workers work hard yet gain nothing while the Bachelors sit around enjoying life and gain everything.<\/p>\n
Lastly, in the first section of the novella, the narrator uses descriptions that can be seen as anti-American. As the narrator is about to enter the room of the feast, he describes the room as \u201cwonderfully unpretending, old, and snug. No new shining mahogany, sticky with undried varnish; no uncomfortably luxurious ottomans… It is a thing which every sensible American should learn from every sensible Englishman, that glare and glitter\u2026are not indispensable to domestic solacement,\u201d (1261). The narrator uses words like \u201cwonderfully\u201d to mean that it\u2019s refreshing to see something new and non-American. Also, he implies that Americans are not as superior as they think, as they \u201cshould learn from every sensible Englishmen.\u201d Though he uses the same description for an American as he does the Englishman, it is used sarcastically towards the Americans while seriously towards the Englishman. Also, the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell is apparent in the title alone. The Bachelors live in \u201cparadise,\u201d while the Maids live in \u201cTartarus,\u201d a word synonymous with Hell. Furthermore, since paradise is in London while Tartarus is in America, Melville suggests that America is Hell. Overall, through using counterparts in this story, the author is able to convey the message that factories result in America becoming Hell rather than some sort of paradise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In her short story \u201cThe Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids,\u201d Melville uses the apparent juxtaposition of the different locations to show how factories are turning America into Hell. There are several juxtapositions within the text besides the two in the title. Melville uses different scenery descriptions, different genders, and ultimately the dichotomy<\/p>\n