Harley's Ignorance In 'The Man Of Feeling'

767 Words4 Pages

Anthony Castro
Eng.102
Prof. Craft
02/21/16

“The Man of Feeling”
The Man of feeling is the story of a meaningful, but naive man named Harley. The novel also illustrates different levels of emotional states such as sorrow and joy. In the 18th century, sentimentalism was not common nor considered to be feminine. The incomplete nature of the text narrates inevitably mixed emotions in different moments of the novel. Harley shows many sides of him as he experiences life around him. Mackenzie displays Harley as being a kind thoughtful, gentle, and caring person. However, these things prove to be causing harm to Harley’s situations in life while he tries to help others and improve their life as well. What roll does Harley play?
In The Man of …show more content…

There are many things to be said about the ignorance of the character Harley. His childhood can play a huge factor with the way Harley behaves as an adult. After his father died, he became an orphan at a young age. He was brought up by many guardians that basically argued among each other about Harleys future and what it would entail. The thought of Harley making his own decisions and figuring out his own way of life was not an option. The guardians treated him as a slave and used him for their own benefit. It was not a stable environment for Harley to grow up and learn new ways of …show more content…

The matter of never knowing how to act in certain situations or how to feel. Harley is not so much accepting his position in the world but feeling wary over the fact that his position was lost due to his childhood and the people surrounded by him. Most of the time he found himself in situations where he was being tricked. This is a result of Harley trusting everyone that he has met due to the lack of communication throughout his life. This is a man full of hope and can benefit you with his presence. That is why he has granted out his money to homeless people and tries to be friends with everyone he comes across with. He feels as if he is not alone anymore and he wants to be friends.
Majority of the people Harley encountered were victims of misfortunes. Harleys feels for that person and pictures himself feeling the same way. One of Harley’s main weaknesses is judging a person by their appearance and taking their stories to heart. The author describes this trait as being good hearted and worrying about the well being of others. His aunt spoke with him about the situation and he continued to make the same mistake. He is grown man and continues to make the same mistakes because he was not taught how to condition his