Tuesday Class Post

In the two pages we read during class, the narrator once again outlines his intelligence and the problems it causes, treating ‘consciousness’ as a terrible infliction that has caused him to lose enjoyment of life.  I thought the revenge argument was particularly interesting, primarily because it drew from the narrator’s previous example of the mouse v. the man; the man is extremely simple-minded in the way he narrowly decides to do something without any second thoughts, while the mouse frets and frets over details and decisions until the opportunity to do so has long passed. I thought that the most intriguing part of the argument, though, was the end; even after the fact, for the rest of its life, the mouse spends time in misery overthinking and regretting how it did not avenge itself. Just as many of the narrator’s points, I feel that this situation is relatable, even outside the context of revenge; there have been many times where I don’t do something, and start thinking about what I could’ve or should’ve done instead.

This certain passage also made me feel pity for the narrator; it is clear that he feels tormented and haunted by his inability to do anything because he keeps overthinking everything. His consciousness prevents him both from doing anything and getting over the fact that he didn’t do anything. This idea that he is suffering from his intelligence, leading to a downgrade in life, is also present in the stone wall argument at the end of the chapter. To others, who are not as perceptive, the wall is comforting because it provides an excuse to not understand anything and simply give up. The narrator, however, has the consciousness to understand and realize the wall is there; this just makes him all the more upset because he knows there is something limiting him and restricting his knowledge of anything else, yet it is useless to try to surpass it –knowing that you cannot know everything is unbearable to him.  

I thought the slap in the face comment to the reader was also interesting as it further elaborated on how the narrator is able to see both sides of the argument. The narrator prides himself in seeming to understand everything by noting how the reader must think he’s undergone the experiences he’s describing. Yet by saying that he has never been slapped in the face and still understanding the concept, the narrator once again emphasizes his consciousness.