Tuesday, 1 November 2011
" 'Time!' the tailor said scornfully, and blew into the receiver. 'No problem at all' (143): Mr. Melville's "Tomorrow"
Why do you think the master tailor, Mr. Melville, in Heath's story kept telling the teacher each time to come back "tomorrow" for the skirt and yet each time she went he hadn't finished it?
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Mr. Melville reminds me of Victory, he has this unrelenting sense of pride in his profession, seeing it as an art. Owing to the fact that he is considered as 'a fine tailor, one of the last master craftsman' (139), and the fact that he has hired no additional help, is indicative of this.
ReplyDeleteHe is similar to the Teacher as well, as they both have an issue with time. Her procrastination is natural, she is always putting off events in her life, while he tries to keep his business alive, but not by producing the garments on time, but by having a long waiting list. Like the Teacher, he is also set in his ways.
He is an old fashioned man, with an unrelenting sense of courtesy and customer service, with respect to his mannerisms. However, he so consumed with his own preoccupation with his craft and time, he does not see that they are ruining his business.
This issue of industrialsation is essential, as he believes that mass production is an enemy of art. Thus, becasue he seems to want to take his time to produce the garments, and his long waiting list- he is falling behind. Times have changed, as seen via the change in season. Things are not as they once were.
One can assume that he is resisting the fast paced society that has developed. His insistent promise of 'tomorrow' is not uncommon, but a reflection of the Teacher's own promise of things she has put off in her own life. This allows the reader to reflect on the issue of time, and the promise of a 'tomorrow' which may not exist.
I agree that the Mr. Melville and the Teacher is similar in that they are both reckless with the element of time. It is ironic that she is a procrastinator but she expects him to finish her skirt at the time he suggested. He was bold and audacious in the end of the story where he says that people are getting unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteIt is evident that both the Teacher and Mr. Melville are very similar in their ways being procastinators. The situation the Teacher finds herself in is a typical "taste of your own medicine" fiasco. Maybe her predicament with Mr. Melville is mapped to teach her a lesson and hopefully she will realize the effects her behavior has on those around her especially the man seeking her hand in marriage. As for Mr. Melville, his whole existence is a contradiction of self, hating bulk work but leaving his incoming work to pile up as a means of satisfying his ego as a fine craftsman. Speed is one of his mottos yet he is never on time. The story is surely a clash of two people of a kind, appearing pointless at first but actually quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe Master Tailor’s procrastination is a metaphor of the Teacher’s “procrastination that become[s] such a natural reaction” to her boyfriend’s “repeated proposals” (138). This idea comes to mind immediately when we are told that the tailor saw the act of wearing his finished product as a marriage that takes place between a “man’s figure” and “a shirt jack or a pair of trousers” (138). It was in this same way that the Teacher’s frame was supposed to “marry” the skirt that he would sew for her.
ReplyDeleteThe tailor’s addresses to his customers were always very flamboyant and “extraordinarily pleasant” (140), but just like his promises to “speed and craftsmanship” (141), they were not genuine. It was all part of his supposed act to keep his clients. This is revealed when he blames the loss of another customer, not on his obvious tardiness, but on his wife’s “sour face” (147).
He felt comfort in knowing that there was an “impressive” (140) list of clients waiting on him to finish their work. This is why he was never “unduly worried” (140) when he began to realize that there was a drop in the amount of clients who now came to him. Keeping that list long meant procrastinating. Just like the Teacher, he did not want to have to succumb to the change. This was being demanded of him because of newly rising establishments. The Teacher’s boy friend wanted to go to the next step after nine years, yet, because “she was so set in her ways” and prided herself in being a woman of “modern times” (140), she was never prepared to get married. It was for this reason, just like the tailor, she kept creating false excuses for delaying the process.
In the end, therefore, it wasn’t about the Teacher’s devotion to her extended family or the tailor’s lack of thread that kept them putting off what they vainly promised. It was because they failed to realize that one day, because of being fed up of waiting, the ones who they expected would always be there would rather turn to someone who knew the value of their time.
Neither the Teacher nor the tailor valued the other person’s time.
Thank you so much for ending us off - at least thus far - with this topic, Shellz, with your very good analysis. Appreciation, too, for all the other contributions above that are also quite fine. One can indeed see the parallels between the teacher's and tailor's actions and personalities.
ReplyDeleteI think just like the Tailor, the Teacher procrastinating. It is ironic because she kept her boyfriend waiting for 9 years but gets irritated to wait for a day and irate to wait for a month. However, she does not seem to understand how her boyfriend feels playing "the waiting game".There seems to be a contrast between feeling because when the tailor is extremely pleasant the teacher seems to get extremely upset; it is from one extreme to the other.
ReplyDeleteBoth the teacher and the tailor were mirror images of each other. She by keeping the man waiting and he by keeping her waiting. They each have airs about their own self importance and don't realize how they make people feel. This story is realistic enough that one can see aspects of their life and put things in perspective.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or did anyone else see the skirt as a representation of the boyfriend's "wait" for marriage? I thought that it could serve as a symbol because after the teacher procrastinated, she finally decided to make the skirt. It shows that she was ready to make a bold move and by wearing the skirt, she might have been ready to accept marriage (also a bold move).Just an inference based on the teacher's actions in the story.
ReplyDeleteThis story explores the human condition of being wanted. The master tailor kept telling the teacher each time to come back because he wanted to show that he was a highly demanded tailor. He wants create an allusion that he is very busy, through the irony of long lines, waiting list and being in demand. When in fact he was really the master of procrastination and what is even more ironic is that his irate customer is also a great procrastinator seen in her putting of marriage for nine years. Both the tailor and the teacher through their need of being wanted demonstrates a fear of change and their stubborn will to not change causes them both to suffer the consequences. The teacher does not get her skirt and is doomed to being a spinster and the tailor loses another customer showing that all their collective efforts resulted in nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher and Mr. Melville are very similar in their ways as being procrastinators. Neither the teacher or the tailor value each other's time.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I noticed in this story wasn't just the fact that the tailor hadn't finished the skirt, but he hadn't even started to work on it at all. I would imagine that its not every difficult for a tailor to find the right colour thread (if that was indeed an issue). In relation to the Teacher's continuous putting off of her marriage, she too has done something similar. She often ponders the prospect of being married, but is making no attempt to pursue it any further than there.
ReplyDelete