In both “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and “Cathedral” the emotional distance between the narrators and characters serves to contrast and evolve the narrators as well as portray the characters as heroes. This emotional distance between characters narrows as the stories progress. It is because the distance between narrator and character was due to misunderstanding of each other. In both stories the narrator was unable to fully understand the character because of their vast differences.
The differences between narrator and character help to create a contrast between them. In “Cathedral” a blind man is able to live his life to the fullest while the narrator with no disabilities sits home and drinks his life away. The blind man still portrays an optimistic
The wife of the narrator was in constant sorrow for lack of friends or recreation, which resulted in a failed suicide attempt. After giving the details of her failed attempt the narrator says “She put it all on the tape and sent it to the blind man [. . .] I think it was her chief means of recreation” (34). This statement is vital because the tapes were a form of recreation for the woman, which is what she was lacking previously. Without the blind man the woman may have tried suicide again and succeeded therefore the blind man is a hero for saving the woman’s life. Although Bartleby did not save a life he is still considered a hero for making a stand against the industrious society. Throughout the story Bartleby replies to the lawyer “I would prefer not to”, which is a passive way of answering no. Bartleby has been asked to work his life away with no real benefits. Replying “I would prefer not to” is a way for him to stand up and finally say no to the system. At the end of the story Bartleby refuses to eat and dies of starvation and sorrow. When he takes his life for his cause he becomes a martyr to others. One character saves a life while the other character takes his life but they both are undeniably heroes in their own
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.
The blind man is appealing to readers because of the fact that he proves to be a good friend and listener to the narrator’s wife. The wife and blind man have kept in touch by exchanging audio tapes over the years. The wife feels comfortable sharing all aspects of her life with him. The husband expands on this by saying “She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it” (5). This quote proves that the blind man provides a sense of comfort to the wife who cannot find the same sense of security in her own husband. The blind man is friendly and makes an attempt to befriend the husband even though he is consistently rude to him. The blind man tells the narrator he will stay up with him to talk even after his wife has gone to sleep. He says he feels “like me and her monopolized the evening” (83). The blind man respectfully says to the narrator “[y]ou’re my host” and wants to be fair and make sure the husband doesn’t feel left out during his visit (102). He is also very understanding and patient with the husband. This characteristic is especially proven when the narrator tries, but fails at explaining the appearance of a cathedral to the blind man. He apologizes for not doing a good job. The blind man understands and reassures him by saying “I get it, bub. It’s okay. It happens. Don’t worry about it” (110). He is aware that his
The author of the story presents the questions of what is valuable in society and how those that resist these values are dealt with and answers them through Bartleby's actions from his life to his death. Society values things such as money and working to make money where human things such as sentimentalities and emotions are not worth holding onto and when one refuses to work he is left with choices of imprisonment in a cell or imprisonment in a job where Bartleby instead chose to die, to be free of such a world that does not value freedoms and humanity.
“Cathedral” consists of three individuals. The narrator is the main character, which the story revolves around. The wife of the narrator is the second character, who is the least relevant. The third character is the blind man, named Robert, who is a friend of the wife.
In both stories the main characters were disengaged. In “Cathedral” The husband was disengaging with his wife he mention he found himself thinking what a “pitiful live” the blind man’s lived, he says:
His lack of appetite is noticed early where in the narrator notices “that he never went to dinner”. (Melville, 51) We discover later that he has been eating a bit of ginger-nuts and some morsel of cheese, (Melville, 88) however the narrator suggests that this is a pitiable amount of food and that Bartleby is clearing suffering. In fact his refusal to eat ultimately leads to his death; one might infer that it was a form of suicide as he says that he “prefers not to dine to-day... [i]t would disagree with me; I am unused to dinners”. (Melville, 235) This implies that Bartleby hadn’t been eating for a long time. Also refusing to eat, Bartleby is shown to very seldom sleep. The narrator mentions that he is “always there; - first in the morning, continually through the day, and the last at night”, (Melville, 84) he makes his home in the office and the narrator comments that he finally does sleep at the end when he is dead.
The topic that I choose for this research paper is the comparison and contrast between Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and Parker film Company’s “Bartleby”. The written form and the 2001 film version though they both show the same symbolism are very different in comparison. Melville wrote about a lawyer narrating a story about his employees, Bartleby. However, Parker produced a movie with a record keeper and his odd employee Bartleby. The time frame and setting within the two dialects are also different, Herman Melville’s setting is of 1853 and Parker’s is in the contempered age. There are many differences as there are similarities in the two scripts, even the characters are not the same. In the hurt story there
Through Bartleby’s flat and static character type, it is amazing how many different types of conflict he causes. From the first order to examine the law copies, to the last request to dine in the prison, Bartleby’s conflictive reply of “I would prefer not to” stays the same (Melville 150). In this way, he is a very simple character, yet he is still very hard to truly understand. Even ...
The short story "Cathedral" by Raymond Carver is about a woman who has a blind friend who comes to visit her and her husband. Although the husband has, technically, normal vision he is in the beginning of this story the one who is "blind." Through the husband’s words and actions when he is dealing with Robert, the blind man, we can see that the husband does not "see" or understand what Robert’s blindness means or how it changes or does not change him as a human being. At first Robert makes the husband very uncomfortable, for the husband does not know what to say or do around the blind visitor. As the story progresses, we can see a change in the husband; he seems to be able to see Robert as a person and not just as a blind man.
I can truly say after reading Cathedral by Raymond Carver the point of view the husband had about the blind in the beginning of the passage made me feel as if I was in his shoes. Like him my view of the blind has change quite tremendously. If it was not for his wife who invited an old friend of hers Robert, who is blind, to their home and actually having the opportunity to see what a real blind man was like, her husband would have never changed his perspective of the blind. With the opportunity of his wife and Robert the husband has undergone a change in his view of blind people in movies as disturbing and bothersome, to just viewing the blind as human beings and realizing their view of the world “is really something”.
Bartleby is a man who is in charge of his own life by having a free will and living a life of preference. His infamous line "I prefer not to" appears in the story numerous times. His choice of preference leads to the downfall of his life. Bartleby made several crucial mistakes that lead to his downfall. His first mistake was when the attorney asked him to make copies and run errands for him and Bartleby preferred not to do so. "At this early stage of his attempt to act by his preferences, Bartleby has done nothing more serious than break the ground rules of the attorney's office by avoiding duties the attorney is accustomed to having his scriveners perform" (Patrick 45). An employee is also supposed to do tasks in the job description and when these tasks are not accomplished or done correctly, not once but several times, it usually leads to termination. Bartleby is a rare case because he does not get fired. This in turn results in his second mistake. Since he was able to get away with not doing anything, Bartleby opted to take the next step and quit his job or in his own words, "give up copying" (Melville 2345). Quitting caused him to have more troubles than he had before. Bartleby then...
The dynamic protagonist in Raymond Carter’s, Cathedral, is scared of having a blind man, who is the antagonist in this story, come and stay in his home. I am of the view that the protagonists fear is due to his lack of exposure to someone who is blind and he does not know what to expect. In the following paragraphs I will lead you through the change of the husband’s attitude toward the blind man.
His efforts though are fruitless because he was not able to get to Bartleby and never truly understood him, even in prison as the man eventually dies of starvation. Although after his death the lawyer does learn of Bartleby’s previous and listless job at a ‘Dead Letter Office’ which made the lawyer sympathize for him and wonder if that job is what made Bartleby so distant. Bartleby was a loner who distanced himself from everyone, even in death, he was aloof and never interacted with anyone which is not considered normal human behavior because humans are supposed to be social. This story went a little deeper and gave the idea of humanity as a whole being apathetic towards each other, because only the lawyer showed any sort of humane concern for Bartleby while the others cared less. Bartleby himself displayed apathetic behavior as he showed little to no care for how his behavior affected others or even himself. Outside in the world, many people who are stressed out and constantly working tend to only focus on themselves and have little to no care for other people most of the time. It’s another negative view on humanity, but at the same time it’s not that wrong, as society made by humans also makes others so busy and stuck in tedious schedules that they gradually become more jaded and some even become distant and
First published in 1983 by Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” tells the story of a man, who in his ignorance, holds a prejudice towards a blind man who comes to visit in his home. While most of Carver’s short stories have hopeless plots, the ending in “Cathedral” is enlightening and optimistic. The plot is rather simple and upon first glance only tells a straightforward story. But once the reader takes a closer look, he sees the irony and meaning behind the simplistic story line. While the blind man has no physical vision, it is his heart that can “see” almost on spiritual levels. Through the drawing of the Cathedral with the blind man, the narrator, who has full physical vision, obtains spiritual vision in matters of love and purpose in life.
In Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville, Bartleby would be symbolism that society can ruin someone's life because in the novella Bartleby is said to have worked at the Dead Letters Office where he would get rid of letters that could not be delivered in anyway, and this is important because in the modern age events like war, terrorism, or even a certain job you have can lead you to a path like Bartleby for example post traumatic stress disorder which is when you experience an event that ruins your life could be classified under Bartleby's experience of doing something that ruins your