There's a lot of compassion in "The Piazza Tales". The narrator in "The Piazza" feels sympathy and pity for Marianna for example—which is a little odd because Marianna seems to just be a figment of his imagination. Of course, all the characters in the books are just figments; they're stories. The book creates them and makes them miserable so you can feel bad for them. Suffering is a spectacle; it's carefully arranged and imagined the better for you, sitting on your porch, to appreciate and sympathize. It feels good to feel bad; compassion is entertainment.
Questions About Compassion and Forgiveness
- Are there any women in The Piazza Tales who are not primarily objects of compassion or sympathy?
- Is Babo supposed to be an object of compassion in "Benito Cereno"? What evidence do you have for your answer?
- The narrator feels sorry for Bartleby. Do you? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
In The Piazza Tales you can tell which people are supposed to be good because those people feel compassion.
In The Piazza Tales, feeling compassion doesn't necessarily make you good.