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Bartleby The Scrivener Essay

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In “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville, Melville distinguishes his work with powerful imagery, diction, and a unique narrative structure. Using these literary structures allows the reader to immerse themselves in the story, viewing the narrator’s life through the eyes of the narrator. Throughout the novel, Melville’s imagery offers the reader a vivid picture of the setting and characters. When he introduces the narrator’s chambers, he writes, “my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and everlasting shade; which wall required no spy-glass to bring out its lurking beauties” (2). Here, Melville emphasizes the gloom of the building by personifying the windows, writing that the windows “commanded” a view, the view being a black looming wall. He also personifies the wall when he writes it has “lurking beauties.” This description suggests the wall is a monstrous creature, rather than simply a brick wall. When describing Bartleby’s appearance, Melville writes, “like a very ghost, agreeably to the laws of magical invocation, at the third summons, he …show more content…

Rather than pairing dialogue with description, he often writes large paragraphs purely of the narrator’s thoughts. After the narrator fails to convince Bartleby to leave the building, Melville writes the narrator’s thoughts: “What shall I do? I now said to myself, buttoning up my coat to the last button. What shall I do? what ought I to do? what does conscience say I should do with this man, or rather ghost. Rid myself of him, I must; go, he shall. But how?” (23). Rather than simply writing that the narrator felt confused, Melville brings the reader into the mind of the narrator by writing the narrator’s thoughts in one long stream of consciousness. He repeats the narrator’s doubt—“what shall I do?”—to emphasize the narrator’s feelings of frustration and

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In Bartleby the Scrivener, Herman Melville uses direct and indirect characterization to give a more powerful meaning to the characters and dialogue of the short story. Melville also uses appearances and names to get his descriptions across. In the story the narrator plays a key role in which he is not just the narrator but also a character. The narrator tells the story through indirect characterization.

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Imagery encompasses a broad topic that includes both visual imagery and sensual imagery or imagery that one feels. Melville elicits feelings of confusion, tension, and fear throughout the novella, “Benito Cereno.” In particular, the shaving scene involving Babo, Captain Delano and Benito Cereno entices readers to feel fearful, and perplexed. Through the use of visual and sensory imagery, Melville adds drama to the adventure story, while also foreshadowing a future discovery of a former mutiny on the ship. Visual imagery adds to Melville’s talent as an author by placing the reader within the novella, itself.

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Another allusion which is most apparent was the narrators’ response to the grub-mans finding. At the bottom of page thirty-four, “Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby.” (Melville, 34) The lawyer murmurs, “With kings and counselors.” (Melville, 34)

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“Bartleby the Scrivener” In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener,” the nameless lawyer-narrator faces conflict with Bartleby, a challenging man who works as a copyist for the narrator but initially seems to have little respect for his boss. This is due to Bartleby’s constant response of “I would prefer not to” to anything requested of him. The narrator comes to a realization that Bartleby’s apparent rudeness stems from his way of living, or lack thereof. He believes that because of Bartleby’s previous employment in the Dead Letter Office, Bartleby lost all sanity, and this explains the reasoning behind his disregard of all requests made of him.

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During this time the narrator becomes consumed by Bartleby as, “Indeed, it was his wonderful mildness chiefly, which not only disarmed me but unmanned me, as it were.” (307, Melville) Bartleby’s freedom from greed, ego or any emotion was so intriguing to the narrator he perpetually pondered this pallid man. The more time the narrator takes in Bartleby, the more

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In “The Scrivener” by Herman Melville, the character of Bartleby serves as a symbol for nonconformity and passive resistance to societal expectations. Through his use of the phrase “I would prefer not to,” Bartleby’s existence defies natural laws and understanding of human behavior, challenging the reader's perception of normality. The narrator points out, “Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable” (Melville, The Scrivener, 1322). Throughout the narrative, Bartleby is an enigma to both the cast and the readers.

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Bartleby “prefers not to” (Melville 7) review his copies aloud with his coworkers and boss, run to the post office or do any other errand, and many other tasks the narrator gives him throughout the line of the story. A Story of Wall-street infers that it is not the only tale produced at Wall-street and story tells the reader that the text is mostly fictional. Setting

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When the narrator is unable to figure out why Bartleby will not work for him he starts to imagine reasons. The narrator decides to conclude that Bartleby must have something wrong with his eyes because one day they “looked dull and glazed. ”(Melville 35) The narrator feels that he must have an answer to all his issues and when he is unsure, he creates the answer. Goodman Brown is conflicted by what is real.

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In Bartleby, the scrivener by Herman Melville, the changing attitudes of the narrator have a significant impact on the narrator's conclusion. Other literary elements, such as diction, point of view, and imagery also play a part of the story's overall outcome. The lawyer is very concerned for his own self-approval. He is unable to fully realize Bartleby's desperation because of his constant concern for what the scrivener can do for his self-approval instead of what he can do for Bartleby. He does not allow Bartleby's problems to affect him because he does not believe such problems exists or matters.

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583 Words | 3 Pages

When we look around the room, we see walls. The walls give a representation about the Inside Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby the Significance of the Wall,” describes the short life of Bartleby as he tries to find his meaning to live. When Bartleby could not discover his life, he then turns to the walls, waiting for an answer to come to him. The wall where Bartleby sits in front of every day represents his future as a blank wall, nothing for him to look forward to.

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However, in the narrator’s statement, “At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing”, it is evident Bartleby’s behavior begins to change (Melville 301). The narrator emphasizes that Bartleby “wrote on silently, palely, mechanically” (Melville 301). This description of Bartleby’s performance is the foundation to understanding Bartleby’s behavior throughout the remainder of the story. Bartleby’s behavior changes when

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Throughout the story walls become a key element both physically and metaphorically. An example of Melville’s use of walls in the story is expressed by Thomas Mitchell who said, “Bartleby's refusal to connect with others, his decision to isolate himself behind a wall of silent despair, rejecting any and all overtures of kindness and help” (Mitchell). The concept of Bartleby isolating himself behind a wall is demonstrated in a physical manner in the story due to living in the office as well as working in a corner secluded from the other copyists. Also, through the narrator’s inability to understand Bartleby’s refusal to work and copy papers anymore there is a metaphorical wall established. The narrator tolerates Bartleby’s behavior for a certain period of time as suggested by Mitchell, “At one point, his sympathy for Bartleby's plight leads him to the totally unconventional decision that though he cannot help him, he can allow him to stay in the office without even the pretense of working” (Mitchell).

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739 Words | 3 Pages

Melville’s first-person narration through an unnamed narrator distances the reader from Bartleby’s direct thought process, leaving readers with only the interpretive recollection of a potentially biased figure. This perspective urges the reader to think critically about the true situation through context clues revealed throughout the story. Rather than directly explain the details of Bartleby’s depression, Melville pushes the reader to piece together the symptoms he scatters throughout the beginning of the story, ultimately building up to the undeniable disability that causes Bartleby’s demise. The pervasive theme of isolation grows stronger as the story moves along and Bartleby exhibits more strange and introverted behaviors, bridging the gap between the slightly odd Bartleby in the beginning and the severely dysfunctional Bartleby in the end. Likewise, Bartleby’s lack of identity and involvement in the workplace compared to the camaraderie of the other men exemplifies classic symptoms of major depression without directly stating Bartleby’s medical condition.

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776 Words | 4 Pages

Critical Analysis The short story “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville, showcases the protagonist, Bartleby, as a scrivener who is inundated with the demanding expectations of his job while being employed by an overbearing mercenary boss. Ultimately, Melville illustrates the protagonist’s sanity and moral value deteriorating as Bartleby begins to lose the will to live due to the stress that his job has created. Herman Melville (1819-1891) was born in New York City, New York. He is the third child out of eight.

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From the twentieth century on, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick has been considered a masterpiece of literature and a landmark in

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