April 21, 2020 | By Su Karagoz (A20)

Jared Bassmann is from East Williston, New York. His senior essay is entitled “Fellow-Feeling: A Study of Reform in George Eliot’s Middlemarch.”

What was at the heart of your argument?

I think the heart of the argument, or the question rather, was: What influences a person’s character? Do people have the agency to change their own character? How might “fellow-feeling” be able to change someone’s character?

What drew you to those questions, and were you able to answer them in your essay?

When I decided to write my essay on Middlemarch, I was interested in one scene in particular, in chapter 66 of the book. It is the scene where Fred Vincy is confronted by Farebrother about Fred’s romantic pursuit—or really lack of romantic pursuit—of Mary Garth. I was convinced that something truly strange happens between the two characters in this moment—something worth understanding. As I reread the book during winter break, I realized how important the Reform Act of 1832 was to the historical setting of the text. The Reform Act as the environment for the text made me wonder what Eliot might be trying to tell us, as readers, about change and how it comes about.

How did your essay connect to different aspects of the Program from throughout your four years?

As I thought about what Eliot was telling us about how our environments shape our being, I could not help but think about the Hans Jonas readings that I had done in my preceptorial, and the Karl Marx readings from seminar.

What were some specific ways you found Eliot connecting with Marx and Hans Jonas?

The regard which Eliot has for the material conditions of our existence, as an influence on our conscious experience, reminds me of the discussions we had in the Marx seminars. I don’t mean to say she’s a Marxist, but it is the idea of the influence of environment that’s similar.

There is a Jonas essay “Philosophical Aspects of Darwinism” that we read in the precept I was in. In that essay Jonas lays out the unfolding of the environment as a force opposed to the unfolding of the individual; the environment shaping the individual and the individual the environment. I thought, “this sounds a lot like Middlemarch”. As the characters develop and live their lives, they press against the lives of others and give them everchanging form.

What was the writing process like for you?

The writing process came in waves. I wrote much of my essay sitting in Ceremony Coffee Roasters on Riva Road while listening to mainly one album: 17 by Youth Lagoon. I would try to write while the sun was up. If I found I was having a hard time writing after an hour or two on any given day, I would take a break and spend some time reading back through interesting parts of Middlemarch. If I had a day where I felt “hot” while writing, I would try to run with that feeling and make as much progress as possible. I wrote all of my first draft in single-spaced Times New Roman; this helped stop me from editing myself as I wrote. When I would make edits, I would print out my whole paper in double-spaced Comic Sans—it is easier to catch mistakes in Comic Sans.

What is the most important lesson you learned during your time at St. John’s?

Wow. Big question. I will say that, over the past four years, I have learned the importance of listening to others. So much of what we do at the college is contingent upon students listening and making efforts to understand each other. I have learned that this is not always easy or natural, but it is so crucial to conversation and the greatest means by which we can all improve ourselves; it is how we become more thoughtful. Ironically, I think that Middlemarch is also very concerned with this same sort of “becoming.”