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Bartleby: The Scrivener
Individualism characteristics in the romantic period
Bartleby the scrivener introduction paragraph
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According to the University of Houston, common Romantic literary themes include the expressions of feelings, emotions, and imagination; characters that celebrate individualism; and the display of "outsiders" as worthy of literary respect. In "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street," many Romantic characteristics are seen. This short story is a prime example of where a narrator's feelings are shown; throughout the story, the narrator remarks about how Bartleby's passive resistance makes him feel. One of the most notable cases of where the narrator shares his emotions is when he remarks, "for the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me" (p. 308). Also, the narrator deals with his complex feelings …show more content…
As defined by Cambridge Dictionary, individualism means that the idea that freedom of thought and action for each person is the most important quality of a society. Every time Bartleby responds to another character's statement or question by saying, "I would prefer not to," this is a classic example of individualism. Bartleby's freedom of thought and action are shown because he is not following the typical actions of the other employees. Even though this individualism may be a classical example of Romantic literature, this characteristic of Bartleby leads to him being isolated and could be argued that it leads to his desolate existence and death. The ending of this story is woeful, but it accomplishes Melville's goal-that "outsiders" are valuable enough to be written about. With Melville's complex and chaotic life likely an inspiration for the Bartleby character, Melville's "outsider" status due to his failures as an author led to an important Romantic characteristic being included in this work. Although Melville's short story may have a plethora of Romantic literary elements, there are various reasons why it could be argued that it sits outside of a truly Romantic
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 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.
In conclusion, all three authors, Dickinson, Melville, and Hawthorne use Emerson's ideas of individuality in their respective writings. They stressed the importance of the individual over he hypocrisy of society. Although Emerson's views were optimistic, Dickinson, Melville, and Hawthorne have pessimistic sociological views. Melville believed that as an individual, one had no power in one's society. Dickinson disqualified society and reiterated the importance of individualism. She thought that if individualism was not in existence, people would die of insanity. Finally, Hawthorne believed that to attain individualism, one needed to cast off any association to technology and science. Thus, due to Emerson's writings and views, Dickinson, Melville, and Hawthorne attempted to change the 19th century's view of one's life and one's soul.
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.
One of the literary elements that Melville uses that convey the narrator's attitude towards Bartleby is diction. The author's diction in this short story is very descriptive and is also slightly comical. One of the ways this is used is when the author gently mocks the narrator by having him expose his flaws through his own words. For example, when the narrator talks of John Jacob Astor, a well respected man who complemented him, we find out how full of himself he is and how highly he thinks of himself. "The late John Jacob Astor, a parsonage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point…I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good opinion." (Page 122, Paragraph2) Another example of the author's use of diction appears on page 127 in paragraph 2; "At first, Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famished for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sunlight and by candle-light. I should have been quite delighted with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically." Here the narrator's description of Bartleby's writing habits in the office, at first, tell us that he is very pleased with his progress and the work he has done but then it tells us that he is not very enthusiastic but...
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 story of Bartleby was a very interesting story open for many different interpretations. Melville does and excellent job building suspension towards different thoughts as to what caused Bartleby to become an emotionless incapable worker. Here is evidence throughout the story to reflect the kindheartedness of the narrator. After reading this work the last quote “Ah Bartleby, Ah humanity” stood out as a cry of sadness for failing to understand and further assist Bartleby. After the numerous attempts He describes himself an elder lawyer that has his own office with a total of four employees including Bartleby. The narrator takes the time to learn the qualities of each individual not just on a performance basis however, personally as well.
Wendy Galeas Professor Geddes The Study of Literature: Essay 2 April 9, 2015 In Herman Melville’s work “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street”, the idea of a capitalist agenda is intentionally reinforced. This short work tells the story of a lawyer on Wall-Street and those of his employees, but he is particularly fascinated by Bartleby. Bartleby at first a hard worker who divulged tirelessly in his job as a law-copyist begins to “ prefer not” to do what is asked of him.
Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an “emphasis on individual initiative” where people act independently of others and use self-motivation to prosper. The individualists “value privacy” over community the individual thrives to move ahead in life (U S Values).
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.
Alienation, the state of being isolated from a group or category that one should be apart of, exists in three forms; man’s alienation from man, man’s alienation from fellow men, and man’s alienation from the world itself. These three classes of alienation are fluid phases of the same process that exists to some extent within every member of society. The intriguing and complex nature of alienation has sparked the interest of many philosophers, artists, and authors around the world, resulting in works of art and literature that attempt to give insight into living life alone. Authors Herman Melville and Frank Kafka both reveal the struggles of functioning set apart from society through the protagonists in their respective short stories; Bartleby the Scrivener, and The Hunger Artist. The overall theme of marginalization in society in both Bartleby the Scrivener and The Hunger
Edgar Allan Poe and Herman Melville are two authors who belong to dark Romanticism. They both have created various works and have different styles of expression. However, their writing can be related with one another at some points. The story of “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville begins when a lawyer complains that this profession has took him "into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men the law-copyists or scriveners" (Melville 2). Bartleby is a person who is hired by a lawyer; even that he has three other copyists working for him in his office. He always admits to do all the work he is asked, expect one day when he is asked to examine a file Bartleby replies: "I would prefer not to" (Melville 8). At first, that seemed acquitted, but rapidly it becomes a chant. At the other hand, “William Wilson” by Edgar Allan Poe talks about a character that gives everything to fulfill his ambition, who afterward loses his identity and don’t know who he is anymore. The things start getting complicated when he realizes that another person exists with the exact appearance, name, the way of speaking, and even the same birthday as his. Subsequently, William Wilson becomes obsessed with the second William Wilson and at the start they find it hard to ignore each other, while their peers thought that they were brothers. At the end of the story, William Wilson who is angry and annoyed with the other Wilson confronts him, where second William Wilson finds death. The main similarity of the main characters of the stories of “Bartleby the Scrivener” written by Herman Melville and “William Wilson” written by Edgar Allan Poe is because they both are described in the first person. I w...
Natural philosophers of every century of human existence have asked what we owe to each other, society or government. In The Origin of Civil Society, Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that the only natural form of duty is to one’s family, and all other obligations are based on agreement (57). Henry David Thoreau, in 1849, wrote in Resistance to Civil Government (sometimes known as Civil Disobedience), “it is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support” (143). This sort of conflict, which has accompanied all men at the great changes in society, is what drives conflict in Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener. Melville, like the Byzantine architects, crafts a work of art that studies a microcosm of the macrocosm. That is to say, by looking at the relationship between two people, Melville is able to explore the larger context around them, specifically the radical change of society in the mid-19th century. Like Thoreau, Bartleby’s famous word, “I would prefer not to,” send a shockwave through contemporary expectations and give rise to how a person approaches a situation. Bartleby and Thoreau are both transcendentalists, and look to return to a Rousseauian state of nature. They have both arrived there after a journey of self-examination – most definitely in Thoreau’s case, and most probably in Bartleby’s – and their non-conformist attitudes raise questions of what is expected of people with regard to their duty to society and each other. Bartleby in particular makes the nameless...
The writers wrote about subjects on individuality. Most of the writers wrote about the positives of individualism, however, some did write about the negatives. These included Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter, a tale of how adultery left Hester Prynne in isolation and another Herman Melville authored Moby Dick, a story of a whale hunter dying on his voyage (America 318-319). These two authors wrote about the limitations of individualism. It is important to consider that if there are people writing counter arguments about an idea, then there must be a reason and a popular belief in that idea. So, the presence of these two works proves that the country had a national identity that was formed on freedom and individuality. These confrontations to individualism were spurred up by the flow of works coming from other writers. These writers wrote to the people who had similar mindsets, including young people and those who had left their family homes to start lives in new urban centers. Ralph Waldo Emerson started this movement. This movement was founded on believes against a market society and how it “was debasing Americans’ spiritual lives.” Emerson, along with Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Walt Whitman set out to write and influence people to self-realization and freedom (America 315-317). So, as these transcendentalists