James G. Blog Assignment 4.1 - "The Force Of Things"
"Glove, pollen, rat, stick. As I encountered these items, they shimmied back and forth between debris and thing - between, on the one hand, stuff to ignore, except insofar as it betokened human activity (the workman's efforts, the litterer's toss, the rat-poisoner's success), and, on the other hand, stuff that commanded attention in its own right, as existents in excess of their association with human meanings, habits, or projects (Bennett 4)."
Bennett's goal, through this story, is to illustrate the power and force of things. He orients on non-human corporeal material to underline his point that corporeal materials have power and weight independently of humanity and also because of humanity. This story knits the two together, allowing Bennett to describe the materials as both things and objects. Also, he focuses on debris to bring into focus his supposition that thing-power cannot be thrown away.