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123 essays on character analysis
Into the wild character analysis
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Bartleby Bartleby is a homeless man that works for a layer. He has some definite quirks such as his refusal to do certain tasks. The head of the office is a layer he already has three other men who are scriveners like Bartleby but not one of them is as efficient as Bartleby. He soon decides to stop working, the layer moves and Bartleby wouldn’t move out of the office so the new owner sends him to jail and there he dies from hunger. Throughout the story the layer makes significant mistakes leading to the point were changing Bartleby’s mind is impossible. “Bartleby!” No answer. “Bartleby,” in a louder tone. No answer. “Bartleby,” I roared. Like a very ghost, agreeably to the laws of magical invocation, at the third summons, he appeared at the …show more content…
This quote the layer losing his temper when Bartleby decides he doesn’t want to even walk to the next room. The layer reputedly gets upset with Bartleby for not doing his job. This is something that pushes Bartleby to the edge. Bartleby won’t work after the events in the office but he won’t leave either. The layer doesn’t understand him at all and he tries to give him money thinking he is just poor and can’t afford to rent a house or pay for food but he doesn’t realize that Bartleby is a character that has much more depth behind him then the layer himself. Also bartleby makes countless mistakes by not obeying his boss not doing his job. He repeatedly replies “I would prefer not to” which angers the layer. Bartley also refuses to leave the office after the layer has moved out this is another mistake that leads to his imprisonment. In prison he makes the clear mistake of starving himself. He also allows himself to be cut off by all human contact. Bartleby must have had a significant past that led him to the conclusion of death. He also allows himself to be tormented by the other
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.
Bart called ‘decently dressed’” (Wharton 23), and Mrs. Bart’s aptitude is described as being able to “live as though one were much richer than one’s bankbook denoted” (Wharton 23). Because of this, Lily was raised in a setting where seeming of a higher class was important regardless of how much money one had. After her father’s passing, Lily and her mother experienced a loss of money. During this time, Mrs. Bart tells Lily “But you’ll get it all back – you’ll get it all back, with your face” (Wharton 28) with “it” being their past wealth, and Lily using her face as in using her beauty to find a wealthy man to marry. Soon after, Mrs. Bart dies, and Lily is send to live with the rich family members “whom she had been
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.
Bartleby's state is further clarified by the symbolic use of the walls and the dead letter office described in the epilogue. First, throughout the story he is depicted time and again as facing and staring at a wall. Staring at a wall can mean ...
He starts to disconnect himself by refusing to do work given to him by his boss, this comes from his desire to be complacent, which we find out when he says “I like to be stationary,” when talking to the lawyer (127). Bartleby continues to change throughout the story, as he goes from being an employee who won’t do his work, to never leaving the office and essentially making it his home. According to Todd Giles, “Bartleby's silence establishes distance,” meaning that he becomes so out of place that people stop expecting of him (Giles, 2007). What this causes is the need for Bartleby to be removed from the Wall Street Office. The lawyer tries in many different ways to do so, and even offers him more money than he is owed if he will quit. Bartleby refuses and continues to stay in the building, doing nothing, detached from the world around him. Eventually the lawyer changes offices due to Bartleby and leaves him there for the next buyer. Bartleby is forced out by the new owner, and in time it is told the police he is a vagrant and he is thrown into jail. Bartleby’s story ends
Is the narrator of “Bartleby” a selfish or an unselfish man? Defend your answer with evidence from the story. The narrator of Bartleby is not a selfish man. Instead, he was the type of man who tried to do everything for someone who was in need. He tried his best to be there for one of his workers when he knew he was not well. Bartleby was a man who was a great worker. He was a man who knew what he was doing and what needed to be done from him. He was extremely caught up with his work, as he had nothing else to do and no one to be with. The story changed when Bartleby's attitude about everything changed. The first thing he did was he prefer not to do what his boss asked him to do. He gave no explanation why but made it clear that he won't do it. The narrator was extremely caring. He could have been harsh, rude, or even fire him right away but instead, he controlled his anger and examined what was happening. “For a few moments I was turned into a pillar of salt, standing at the head of my seated column of clerks. Recovering myself, I advanced towards the screen, and demanded the reason...
Bartleby undergoes several transformation as we all know. However because of his transformations it has made him become a person with great influence from a person who had none. It has manifested through his boss’s reactions. I will come to show you how “the helped” became the person in charge through his boss’s reactions.
...e able to feed from any human because of the constant surveillance by guards, and knew that eventually he would meet his death there. The Scrivener completed his mission by not procuring the blood necessary to keep him alive. Bartleby knew well that he would not be able to feed, and consciously moved to the Egyptian masonry, where “The yard was entirely quiet [and] it was not accessible to the common prisoners” because he knew he was near his death. He wanted to die in peace and not allow anyone to get through into the masonry who might hinder his task.
Dear Bartleby was a harmless man with a demeanor that was capable of disarming many. From the onset of Melville's story, it becomes quite apparent that Bartleby is a man who prefers not to do what society wishes of him. He prefers not to honor any request from his employer that would make him deviate from what he prefers to be doing. Bartleby's employer quickly realized that, "there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me" (2236). Bartleby gave no argument nor tried to justify denying his employers request. He would simply state, I would prefer not to. His only motive was to do as he preferred. Bartleby's employer found this expression of freedom very strange. Where did this man come from who has the audacity to break the pattern of normalcy that we all follow? He who will not "comply with my request-a request made according to common usage and common sense...(2337). However, what was "common" for others was not comm...
The story is open to many interpretations of Bartleby, the lawyer, and the incidents that happen throughout the plot; I analyzed and interpreted the story from a management point of view. Based on one’s work and life experience, one could interpret the story as a tale of misfortune, with emphasis on empathy towards the lawyer; because he had to deal with a difficult and puzzling employee. Someone who may have experienced mental disorders personally, or in a family environment, may empathize with Bartleby. Regardless of how you interpreted the story, it truly is a great tragedy in the end, and a tragedy I believe could have be averted through proper leadership and management.
...tive set up of himself as the infallible hero and then eventual, but subtle, admittance to selfish gain, mirror’s the larger progression within the entire story. By opening up with the objective scenario of “an earnest person” and an individual with an “inhumane temper”, the narrator sets up the biases of the situation early on by placing himself and Bartleby into set roles. He then moves on to say that he will act “charitably” towards the “poor fellow,” creating a victim-hero dynamic. He comes around at the end, however, and reveals his true intention of preserving “a sweet morsel for my conscience” in that by attempting to delude himself, and hopefully the reader, into believing his sincerity in helping Bartleby, he inadvertently points directly to his insincerity by citing a healthy conscience has one of his key motivators in his supposed tolerance for Bartleby.
Throughout his tale, Bartleby spends time in the office of his workplace for an unrelenting amount of time grinding away as a scribe. However, whenever asked to help with an additional task, his only response is, “I would prefer not.” His boss and coworkers consider this response strange, because his fellow employees would never think to express their true feelings to their superiors. They believe that they must do what they are told with no questions asked. In addition to this, Bartleby’s work place is predominantly male. The only female mentioned within the story is the housekeeper, who “weekly scrubbed and daily swept and dusted [the office].” This shows how traits that are considered feminine by societal gender roles are not favored in Bartleby’s occupation, and when Bartleby expresses his
Throughout the story Bartleby character changes dramatically. In the beginning Bartleby is full of life, the author describes him as “respectable”(Melville 6), and is glad to have him in the office. As the story progresses Bartlebys character changes dramatically over time. Being in a confined area, without any friendly human interaction caused bartleby to enter a rebellious stage. He did his work “silently, palely”(Melville 7) and “mechanically” ( Melville 8). This should have been the first sign to the author that something was wrong with him. Therefor ignoring him shows the loss of humanity, because he did not try to help him when he first started seeing flaws in this character. When Melville first asks Bartleby to examine documents, he replies with “I would prefer not to”(Melville 9). The author noted the verbal refusal coming from bartleby as strange, yet decided to forget the matter. The rebellious character did not eat, and eventually “for long periods”(Melville 10) “would stand looking out, at his pale window”(Melville 11). Bartleby had given up working, because the author was oblivious to his efforts, which lead bartleby to give up on life. Although he showed many signs, no one in the story attempted to show the slightest sign of
...arrator to talk reason into Bartleby occurs in the scene before the new landlord calls the police to have him escorted to jail. “‘Bartleby,’ said I … ‘will you go home with me now—not to my office, but my dwelling—and remain there till we can conclude upon some convenient arrangement for you at our leisure? Come, let us start now, right away.’” Responds Bartleby, “‘No: at present I would prefer not to make any change at all’” (Melville 2385). Bartleby isn’t willing to meet the narrator half way.
An example that the dead letter office job plays a part in Bartleby’s character is Bartleby isn't the average office worker. He is the weird guy no one likes, doesn't do his work, and just spends hours sitting and staring. When asked to do something, he responds with "I would prefer not to". There isn't much of an argument being created with someone who doesn't give much to argue with. Yet, “Bartleby is improper, propertyless, without possession, while at the same time in full control of his own possession"(Giles). He tends keeps to himself instead of letting others know more about him. Nothing is known about Bartleby, except for what one can see and take in; such as his name, or that he never leaves the office. In Bartle...