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Individuality and Conformity
Freedom in modern society
Freedom in modern society
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Bartleby, the Scrivener brings to light the outcome of a social outcast in a conformist society. One man’s attempt of individuality in a world of conformity ended in a tragic demise. Normally, a home would not be thought to take form as an office or a prison; however, it is the person who takes up the residence that makes the home. A home is often associated as homely and comfortable, but a prison is none of that. In the bleak prison, Bartleby attempts to defy societal expectations, but in the end led to his death. The prison beseeches the sentimentality of the inevitable doom for the nonconformist outcast. Death becomes a spiritual gloom spreading through the daunting prison.
People one can never really tell how person is feeling or what their situation is behind closed doors or behind the façade of the life they lead. Two masterly crafted literary works present readers with characters that have two similar but very different stories that end in the same result. In Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby the Scrivener” readers are presented with Bartleby, an interesting and minimally deep character. In comparison to Gail Godwin’s work, “A Sorrowful Woman” we are presented with a nameless woman with a similar physiological state as Bartleby whom expresses her feelings of dissatisfaction of her life. Here, a deeper examination of these characters their situations and their ultimate fate will be pursued and delved into for a deeper understanding of the choice death for these characters.
...dhearted grandmother. Bartleby was able to be free in his workplace because the lawyer allowed him so. Therefore, both characters' relationships with others, who showed compassion and understanding, helped them to overcome obstacles and reach freedom. Brent’s grandmother was a positive aspect in her life through support, and it made Brent believe there was still humanity or hope. Bartleby got the lawyer to let him do as he pleased, although it was the result of the lawyer's selfishness. Nevertheless, the lawyer did care for Bartleby and tried to help him, even if he was unsuccessful in the end. Each character had different approaches to freedom, and got there on their own, with nothing given to them but support. The acts of kindness and knowledge of the fact that good-hearted people still existed were ultimately enough for Brent and Bartleby to reach their freedom.
In Melville’s, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” a lawyer’s idea of relationships is tested. As a bachelor, his disconnection with people is an obstacle he has to overcome. The relationships between his coworkers and himself are simple and detached until Bartleby is introduced. The lawyer is befuddled at the unique behavior that this character displays and cannot help but take particular interest in him. When Bartleby is asked to work, he simply says, “I would prefer not to,” and when he quits working, he begins to stare at the wall (1112). This wall may symbolize the wall that the lawyer has built up in an attempt to ward off relationships, or it may simple symbolize Wall Street. When the lawyer finds out that Bartleby is l...
Bartleby demonstrates behaviours indicative of depression, the symptoms he has in accordance with the DSM-IV are a loss of interest in activities accompanied by a change in appetite, sleep, and feelings of guilt (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, 320). Very shortly after Bartleby begins his work as a Scrivener he is described by the narrator as having done “nothing but stand at his window in his dead-wall revery”. (Melville, 126) In contrast, Bartleby had previously been described as a very hard worker and this process of doing increasingly less shows how his a diminishing sense of interest both in his work but also of the perception others have of him. It is also noted that included in this lack of interest is a social withdrawal (DSM—IV, 321) which corresponds well to Bartleby in that his workspace becomes known as his “hermitage”. During small talk which included Bartleby he says that he “would prefer to be left alone”. (Melville, 120) Bartleby only emerges from his hermitage when called upon and quickly returns when faced with confrontation.
According to founder and CEO of Bartleby.com, Steven van Leeuwen, the Bartleby Project offers, “the most comprehensive public reference library ever published on the web” (Bartleby.com, 2000, para. 4). The Bartleby Project—the name of which comes from Melville’s classic short story Bartleby, the Scrivener—began as a personal research experiment at Columbia University in which van Leeuwen sought to combine his information systems knowledge with his love of books to create accessible, searchable electronic versions of classic literature and reference works. The first book published on the site was Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass in 1994. Following this success, van Leeuwen continued to develop the project privately, becoming Bartleby.com in 1997 and continuing to expand into the impressive collection of classic and modern reference and works of literature that it is today (Hane, 2000).
In Herman Melville's short story, Bartleby, the Scrivener, the narrator's attitude towards Bartleby is constantly changing, the narrator's attitude is conveyed through the author's use of literary elements such as; diction-descriptive and comical, point of view-first person, and tone-confusion and sadness.
In the short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” which was written by Herman Melville, the character named Bartleby is a very odd, yet interesting individual. In the story, Bartleby is introduced when he responds to a job opening at the narrator’s office. Although there is no background information given about him, it becomes very apparent that he will be the antagonist in this story. Unlike the usual image put on the antagonist, Bartleby causes conflict with a very quiet and calm temperament. This character’s attitude, along with the fact that he is a flat and static character, makes him a very unique antagonist, and this fact is shown through the way other characters approach and deal with his conflict.
In the beginning, he appears to be a model employee, doing his job swiftly and without complaint. However, one day, he starts refusing to work, and does not give any other justification than the repeated sentence “I would prefer not to.” This refusal is the beginning of an isolation that only worsens. His employer, who is also the narrator, tries to be comprehensive, but Bartleby’s very presence disturbs him. He perceives Bartleby as someone terribly lonely and this makes him uneasy, as it forces him to reflect upon his own loneliness. Bartleby’s isolation takes a strong physical turn when a “high green folding screen” (page) is installed into the office to “isolate” (same page) him from the narrator’s sight. Bartleby is further isolated by a narrator who ambiguously doesn’t mean any harm, but fails to understand
Melville intends something less black and white with more gray shading. Melville uses dramatic irony and grim humor in “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street. This is to show the reader how the Lawyer assumes he is a safe, successful and powerful man with extensive control in his polite society until he hires a man named Bartleby. This relationship is slowly revealed to be quite a conundrum for the Lawyer and the reader. Melville shows how the Lawyer never had any power or control over Bartleby but quite the opposite; Bartleby held all the power and control in this relationship. I will explore the important of the power struggle and the fight to maintain control between the Lawyer and Bartleby.
This leads to the lawyer to grow increasingly curious about Bartleby. The idea of capitalist values in “Bartleby the Scrivener” are supported through the way the narrator, the lawyer, presents his employees to the reader, describes meeting Bartleby and Bartleby’s
Bartleby- The Scrivener In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener”, the author uses several themes to convey his ideas. The three most important themes are alienation, man’s desire to have a free conscience, and man’s desire to avoid conflict. Melville uses the actions of an eccentric scrivener named Bartleby, and the responses of his cohorts, to show these underlying themes to the reader. The first theme, alienation, is displayed best by Bartleby’s actions. He has a divider put up so that the other scriveners cannot see him, while all of them have desks out in the open so they are full view of each other, as well as the narrator. This caused discourse with all of the others in the office. This is proven when Turkey exclaims, “ I think I’ll just step behind his screen and black his eyes for him.”(p.2411) The other scriveners also felt alienated by the actions of the narrator. His lack of resolve when dealing with Bartleby angered them because they knew that if they would have taken the same actions, they would have been dismissed much more rapidly. The narrator admits to this when he said, “ With any other man I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence.” (2409) The next theme is man’s desire to avoid conflict. The narrator avoids conflict on several occasions. The first time Bartleby refused to proofread a paper, the narrator simply had someone else do it instead of confronting him and re...
The infamous ending statement in Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener,” “Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!” (Melville 34), signifies not only the tragic demise of the character of Bartleby, but the dismal ruin of mankind as well. This enigmatic statement can be applied to both “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Melville’s other short story, “Benito Cereno.” Both stories are narrated by unreliable characters, leaving further questions on whether or not the Lawyer was genuinely trying to help Bartleby when he showed signs of depression or if the one-sided story of Captain Delano truly portrayed the slaves and their motives for taking over Cereno’s San Dominick. In each of Melville’s short stories, there is an obvious grayness about each tale, the plots of both stories start out slow and unsuspicious, but are then revealed through a dynamic change in events, and each novella has ultimate realities that are hidden through appearances. Together, “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “Benito Cereno” are stories that possess a deep meaning within them which is intended to make the reader question the definition of human nature.
Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2012. 1483-1509. Print.
James Joyce's, "The Dead" and Melville's, “Bartleby, the Scrivener", are both short stories that critique our relation with identity politics. In this paper, I will argue that both of these works aim to show that a symptom of modernization is that self-deception erodes our humanity. First I will explain what is the industrial revolution and modernization and its effect on a society. The process after of which I build my position will somewhat mirror the progression of the author's message in the readings. By this, I will compare and acknowledge the context of these stories and their authors. From there I will describe and contrast the protagonists and their relations with society. Following this, I will weigh in on the protagonist's epiphanies
Due to Bartleby’s personality, motives, and thoughts not being comprehensible, he is shown as a very puzzling character. Bartleby refuses to do anything in the office; instead, he just sits “in his hermitage, oblivious to everything but his own peculiar business there” (Melville, 50). The room in which Bartleby works has “a wall, and light came down from far above, between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in a dome…a high green folding screen, which entirely [isolates] Bartleby from [his] sight…[and] privacy and society were conjoined” (Melville 17). Bartleby’s view mainly consists of different “walls” that separate him from others around him and due to that the wall that is outside the window panes and “the high green folding screen” depicts the imaginary walls that Bartleby creates to isolate himself from society. Bartleby loses interest in the events that happen in the world around him and only prefers to do what he wants to do. Bartleby, similarly to Hester Prynne, is isolated from society, however, he chooses to isolate himself, whereas Hester is actually shunned due to her sin. In the start, Bartley by is very diligent and listens to whatever the lawyer tells him to do and copies everything accurately and quickly, but