I think that poetry can often be interpreted similarly to art. I think that this can be agreed upon for many reasons, but you likely aren't thinking of the same reason as I am. For this explanation, I think the best possible example is "The Red Wheelbarrow". Imagine-- you go to an art gallery and hope to see something unique and innovative. You walk around relatively unimpressed. Then, you round a corner to see a crowd of people surrounding a new display: a fork in a box. There was no description or explanation provided, so spectators discussed the endless possibilities of what it could mean. You leave utterly impressed. Later that week, you see in the newspaper that the fork was placed in the box as an experiment proving that the commentary on art has become hyperbolic. It wasn't real art; it was a fork in a box. "The Red Wheelbarrow" is a fork in a box. It seems like it has some deep meaning, but it is what it appears to be. I think it is important not to put too much stock into what poems might be about. Don't invest time into a fork in a box.
Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" is secretly about Cotton-Eyed Joe. We often talk about how poems resemble songs, so why can't the plots of short stories do the same? In the case of "Bartleby", I think that he as a person can easily be likened to our dear old pal CE Joe. We don't know where he came from, we don't know where he went (in the biblical sense). He has an air of mystery about him. He messes with the narrator's personal life. I know that this is silly, but I think it's fun to relate things that you don't necessarily enjoy to things that you do. If anyone can think of other parallels between the two, please feel free to comment them below.
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