Similarities Between The Dead And Bartleby The Scrivener

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

Both James Joyce and Melville were victims of laissez-faire economics in a modernized nation. Not surprisingly, they wrote about the greed and lack of compassion causing their country's hardships. Joyce wrote “Dubliners”, about his home country at the beginning of the twentieth century; when the nation was at an economic and societal stagnation, and hunger for independence from Britain was at its peak. A numb nation from battling famine and foreign oppression was unable to properly enter the industrial revolution, and so reaped no benefits. While the people themselves were divided by wealth and religion. James Joyce like Gabriel rejected Irish tradition and immersed himself with other cultures; this is contrasted by Herman Melville who was a strong patriot for his country. Melville himself lived in New York in the 19th century, a staple of modernization throughout the world. This beacon of the American dream fueled by materialistic values brought many immigrants, some fleeing the paralyzed Ireland Joyce later experienced. This modernization boom sadly created a vast amount of wealth for the elite and poor lifestyles for the working mass. To this Melville hints to that the British oppression has transformed to elite oppression, by placing the narrator's offices in the old Master in Chancery dwellings. Now that I have established a

The narrator acknowledges that his workers are useless in different parts of the day, but holds that, “...with all his failings, and the annoyances he caused me, Nippers, like his compatriot Turkey, was a very useful man to me.” (300, Melville) Instead of finding a worker that works through the whole day he generously has two that are productive counterintuitively. The narrator reveals his dependence on charity when he said, “...charity often operates as a vastly wise and prudent principle a great safeguard to its possessor.” (314, Melville) He believes the good he does will counterbalance the evil he is involved in. Similar to a cruel person who believes they are welcome in heaven for donating to the church. An example from the text is that the narrator is aware Turkey cannot afford a coat. He is awake that his workers live in poverty, but he gives Turkey a coat over a raise, effectively keeping his poor morals but gaining goodwill. By achieving the American the dream with little effort and having to continuing ease his conscious, it allures the reader to believe that the narrator has done less than honorable things financially. The narrator only will help those he finds any value in. Therefore, at the beginning of the text the reader and society perceive him as a charitable man, despite his hidden motives and lack of