ipl-logo

Bartleby The Scrivener Essay

2169 Words9 Pages

Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, The Scrivener” gives the reader a task to try to construct who Bartleby is when all the information known about him is through the title of his job “a scrivener” for the lawyer’s company on Wall-Street. The lawyer attempts to control Bartleby time after he joins him just like he has been doing with his other employees who he has already figured out but is stunned when he suddenly sees a change in his work ethic and responds with “I would prefer not to” (Melville 1489) whenever he is told to do something at the office. “Bartleby, The Scrivener” is representative of how readers tend to analyze pieces of literary works and this is shown through the lawyer and his attempts to figure out his employees, especially Bartleby, through the use of corporate control.
Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut are the other three characters/employees in the short story who have been figured out by …show more content…

Bartleby’s personality is based off of those observations because he rarely speaks about his background, his likes or dislikes or his actions. From the beginning he is described by the lawyer with words like “motionless young man…pallidly neat…incurably forlorn” (Melville 1488) or even as a figure thus making him seem unhuman-like and this continues throughout the story. Bartleby was said to have shown up on the front door of the lawyer’s office to answer one of his advertisements. The lawyer hires him on the spot because of the first impression he gets. “After a few words touching his qualifications, I engaged him, glad to have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect, which I thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of Turkey, and the fiery once of Nippers” (Melville 1488). The lawyer believes to have the best interest in the company because he hires employees whose personalities will not

Show More
Related

  • Thomas Sophonow Essay

    1212 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the court of Canada there has been many records of wrongfully convictions that have occured. Today we still investigate those cases and why this lead for an wrongful act. Thomas Sophonow, David Milgaard, and James Driskell are three of the many that were wrongfully convicted. They were all imprisoned for murder and served jail time for 5 or more years.

    Read More

  • Bartleby The Scrivener Character Analysis

    1006 Words  | 5 Pages

    When only one gentleman shows up for the job, the boss gives the strange man, Bartleby, a job as a filer. After a few days, the new employee will not listen to the boss. This extraordinary man merely states, “I prefer not to,” when requested to complete a duty. Consequently, the boss gets weary of Bartleby’s behavior and attempts to get rid of

    Read More

  • Machiavelli The Prince Essay

    1310 Words  | 6 Pages

    There are many different views regarding how a prince should rule, but in The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, he advises Lorenzo de' Medici to rule with absolute power and to take extreme measures when necessary to maintain his power. Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513 with the intent of convincing Lorenzo de’ Medici to give him an advising position within the Florentine government. Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian writer and politician who lived from 1469 to 1527. In the dedication of his book, which was written in 1513, he explains that his writing is the most valuable thing that he has to offer. Through his detailed accounts of history and his ruthless approach to ruling Machiavelli explains why he tends to favor the ancients and has

    Read More

  • Foils In Bartleby The Scrivener

    516 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, multiple foils can be observed. Foils being a contrast between two characters or even settings. However, this text will be centered on specifically two foils. The first one, the narrator being a foil of Bartleby, leading to the second foil; Nippers and/or Turkey being foils of Bartleby once again. As previously said, Bartleby the Scrivener and the narrator seem to be foils of each other.

    Read More

  • Case Study Bob's Meltdown

    1338 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the case study, Bob’s Meltdown, Jay Nguyen, CEO Concord Machines, has to handle a case of psychological harassment resulting due to work related stress; the main accused being his best manager, Bob Dunn. Jay needs to find a suitable solution as soon as he can to avoid being sued by Annette. Jay’s dilemma is that on one hand he cannot let Bob go as he is his best manager and only his department is earning all the profits for the company and on the other hand Annette has made it clear that if Bob stays, she’ll leave.

    Read More

  • Adversity In The Crucible

    914 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant” (Horace). The idea that hard times elicit the development of certain aspects of a character, whether good or bad, is prevalent in literature, particularly The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Horace’s assertion is true in regard to the two texts in that they both contain characters who develop maturity and mercy, a new self-awareness, and cunning duplicity. The notion that adversity develops talents is shown in the characters of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter who matured and developed an ability to forgive over the course of the plot.

    Read More

  • Ellen Goodman's Rhetorical Analysis: The Company Man

    665 Words  | 3 Pages

    Callahan McArthur                                                                                                         1 Ms. Armstrong AP English 11 23 Sep 2016 Rhetorical Analysis     Ellen Goodman’s “The Company Man is about a workaholic named Phil who would spend his free time working himself into his own demise. She uses a few different rhetorical terms to convey her point of view. The author uses irony, sarcastic tone, and symbolism to show that she thinks that that some Americans only focus on work and should be focusing on more important things such as family.     Goodman uses irony to show that Phil’s beliefs were insignificant and wrong.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson And Ahab Analysis

    874 Words  | 4 Pages

    Melville displays allusions to Andrew Jackson in various instances throughout Moby Dick and certainly for good measure. The significance itself, though lies in the fact that Andrew Jackson and Ahab, the infamous ship captain, are both merciless towards the minorities. With an imagination, arguments can be proposed that Andrew Jackson and Ahab are the same person. In order to back up the argument one must understand Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the two’s personalities, Ahab’s role in the novel, and the hickory pole. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, possesses the reputation of being a ruthless, barbarous, and ignorant man.

    Read More

  • Fenimore Coopers Rhetorical Analysis

    429 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mark Twain, an 18th century humorist, was known for his critical and satirical writing. In one of his most famous essays, “ Fenimore Coopers Literary Offenses” Twain addresses Coopers inability to realistically develop a “situation” and his failure to effectively back up his stories in order for them to be more plausible. To dramatically convey his unimpressed and sarcastic attitude, he applies biting diction, metaphors and hypophora throughout this work . By continuously using biting diction, Twain develops a mocking tone towards Fenimore Cooper’s incapability to create even the simplest of storylines. In the title of the work a sarcastic tone is evident; the word choice is utilized to reinforce the argument stating how Coopers work is an offense to the world of literature.

    Read More

  • How To Interpret Bartleby The Scrivener

    194 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are numerous ways somebody can interpret "Bartleby the Scrivener". I think all through the story the storyteller (the Lawyer) is the more sympathetic character. The lawyer, despite the fact that an active individual from society, alienates himself by forming dividers from his own particular egotistical and materialistic character. As it were, the lawyer's entire life rotates around items and ideas which don't sound good to him in spite of the fact that he is not mindful of this. The dividers of Bartleby conflict with the lawyer's dividers, however, both are designed to protect both the lawyer and Bartleby from the outside world.

    Read More

  • Bartleby The Scrivener Response

    370 Words  | 2 Pages

    Herman Melville’s story “Bartleby the Scrivener” is a fascinating story although at first it was difficult for me to understand because he didn’t use the contemporary English for it. The narrator only introduced himself as an attorney that works in wall street he went further to introduce other characters in the story who happens to be his staff he described their behaviors to be lovable and strange which earned them nicknames “Turkey” whom he described to be a glutton whose mental alertness sets with the sun each day followed by “Nuppets” a supposed hardworking staff suffering from an obsessive compulsive disorder evident by frequent adjusting of his work table and finally “Ginger nut” overly ambitious the youngest of them all. The story

    Read More

  • What Is Bartleby The Scrivener

    540 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” a short story by Herman Melville, tells the story of a scrivener's interactions in his daily life. Bartleby, a scrivener, portrays an outcast figure to society. He wants to rebel against the norm society has implanted as stereotypically correct. Throughout Bartleby’s stay at a law firm, the amount of effort put into his job diminishes. He can be characterized to represent capitalism, and the effects it has on society.

    Read More

  • Irony In Ellen Goodman's The Company Man

    499 Words  | 2 Pages

    Working is one of the many tasks that most adults have to endure. As for Phil, work was not just a task, but was a life commitment that took valuable time away. Ellen Goodman describes her stance of this issue in the piece, “The Company Man,” by employing repetition of important phrases and by showcasing the irony of Paul’s life. This conveys a sense of sympathy for Paul and his family and disapproval of his actions, who let his work consume his life, leading to his death. To begin, the use of repetition allowed Ellen Goodman to show her critical attitude and pity towards Phil.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Bartleby And Willy Loman

    1800 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Narrator justifies keeping Bartleby and ignores his internal issues with confrontation. When Bartleby refuses to do anything but copy the Narrator forgives the behavior because Bartleby asked so politely. When Bartleby refuses to work all together the Narrator allows him to stay because he thinks it is a good thing to help Bartleby. Even when the Narrator realizes the he can’t have Bartleby in his office anymore he moves offices instead of making Bartleby leave. All these acts show us that the Narrator does not know how do deal with confrontation

    Read More

  • The Company Man Ellen Goodman Analysis

    564 Words  | 3 Pages

    Megan Broudy Teresa Matranga AP English & Composition 02 December 2015 In a passage titled, "The Company Man," by Ellen Goodman, Goodman explains the way she views Phil, the story's main character. To Goodman, Phil embodies the worst characteristics of corporate America: shallow, selfish and indifferent. To convey her dislike of Phil, she uses a myriad of rhetorical devices, including tone, repetition and satire which aid the readers' understanding of a workaholic's nature.

    Read More

More about Bartleby The Scrivener Essay

Open Document