Melville lets the reader know immediately that The Lawyer is an unreliable and often unspecific narrator. For example, The Lawyer tells the reader know that the story will focus on Bartleby, and then proceeds to not mention Bartleby until seven pages later.
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There are many ways someone can interpret “Bartleby the Scrivener”. I think throughout the story the narrator (the Lawyer) is the more sympathetic character. The lawyer, although an active member of society, alienates himself by forming walls from …
Nov 05, 2018 · Although the lawyer and Bartleby are already alike, the “aberration” that the lawyer is afraid of is that Bartleby might influence him and increase his already unambitious nature. The lawyer would then become more like Bartleby and therefore an aberration because he would not be seen as normal.
Jul 21, 2016 · RUNNING HEAD: THE STREET LAWYER The Street Lawyer Social Work 3040-01I Apr. 30, 2008 SUMMARY John Grisham’s The Street Lawyer tells the story of Michael Brock a married wealthy attorney. Connection between `Bartleby the Scrivener` and Wall Street
The lawyer performs the errand himself. Days later, Bartleby reveals that he has decided to give up copying. The lawyer knows that Bartleby is alone in the world, but nonetheless, he gives him six days to leave his employ. Analysis. Surrounded by functionary stereotypes, the lawyer, a round character, considers himself a "safe" man.
The narrator in ''Bartleby, the Scrivener'' is unreliable. He admits that his thoughts and perception are clouded by assumptions.
As a narrator, the lawyer is unreliable because the reader cannot always trust his interpretation of events. The lawyer, as he himself admits, is a man of “assumptions,” and his prejudices often prevent him from offering an accurate view of the situation.
The lawyer visits Bartleby to convince him to eat and get through to him, but it doesn't work and Bartleby dies. The lawyer sensitivity and empathy towards Bartleby raises questions to the lawyers sincerity.
Or is this property yours?" Bartleby makes no response, and the Lawyer becomes resigned to the idea that Bartleby will simply haunt his office, doing nothing. The Lawyer believes he is doing a good, Christian thing by allowing Bartleby to continue existing in his office.
The Narrator does this because he cannot bare to be mean to Bartleby, because he just does not have it in him to do anything negative towards him. He even tries to bribe him with extra pay for him to leave the office, rather than simply firing him.Mar 10, 2015
However, rather than flat-out refuse his boss's requests (which would likely lead to his dismissal), Bartleby uses a strategy of passive resistance, which, for a long time, allows him to both stay employed and keep his daily tasks within the limited set of responsibilities he finds acceptable.
Story DetailsCharacters/ThemesExplanationsBartlebya new scrivener at the law office and the story's antagonistThe lawyerthe protagonist and narrator of the storyTurkeyan old scrivener who is the same general age as the lawyer, 60Nippersan ambitious scrivener with a fiery personality.4 more rows•Oct 11, 2021
Foremost among them is his capacity for sympathy; the Narrator remains rather oddly sympathetic to the enigmatic and frustrating Bartleby throughout the story. He also has a profound sense of personal responsibility, which drives him to keep checking in on Bartleby.
The narrator recognizes that he has taken on the “easiest way of life” and characterizes himself as an “unambitious lawyer [who does] a snug business among rich men's bonds and mortgages and title deeds”.
What does this say about his religious beliefs, particularly in light of the fact that he considers Bartleby "a lost soul"? The narrator decided not to attend Church and finds Bartleby living in the office by allowing him to stay there he has done his good deed and doesn't need to go to church and pray.
The narrator consistently feels sympathy towards Bartleby because he can see that there seems to be something wrong with Bartleby as if he is depressed making him want to fire him because he believes other employers may not understand him as he does and could abuse of him.
The Lawyer then mentions that an important part of a scrivener’s job is to re-read what they have written in order to check for mistakes.
The Lawyer searches the desk, and finds that Bartleby’s papers are neatly laid out. However, beneath the papers, The Lawyer finds an old knotted handkerchief.
Finally, The Lawyer asks Ginger Nut what he thinks, and Ginger Nut replies that Bartleby is a “luny.”. So, The Lawyer again turns toward Bartleby’s screen, and urges Bartleby to come out and do his “duty.”. However, Bartleby neither replies nor emerges from his desk.
The Lawyer offers Bartleby the 20-dollar bonus and tells him he must go. Bartleby replies that he would prefer not to. The Lawyer tells him he must, but Bartleby sits there silently. The Lawyer gives Bartleby all the money the scrivener is owed, plus the 20-dollar bonus.
Next, The Lawyer details his employee Nippers, who is also a scrivener. Nippers is about twenty-five years old, has yellow complexion, wears a mustache, and, in The Lawyer’s view, is “victim of two evil powers—ambition and indigestion.”.
The Lawyer’s storytelling is, in itself, an example of language failing to properly communicate. Active Themes. The Lawyer then states that he is a lawyer, and describes his business as focusing around “rich men’s bonds, and mortgages, and title deeds.”.
Of course, Bartleby passively resists, and in escaping behind his screen (a make-shift wall), he disconnects himself, at least momentarily, from the rest of the office. Active Themes. The Lawyer stands there, unsure what to do. Finally he advances toward the screen, and asks Bartleby why he refuses.
The narrator describes himself as an unambitious, elderly lawyer who has enjoyed a comfortable tenure as Master in Chancery. Before hiring Bartleby, the narrator—henceforth referred to as the lawyer—employed two law-copyists, or scriveners, and one office boy. The lawyer describes each of his employees in turn. The elder scrivener, nicknamed Turkey, is nearing sixty and it is implied that he drinks heavily on his lunch hour. The other scrivener, who goes by the nickname Nippers, is younger and considered overly ambitious by the narrator. The office boy is called Ginger Nut after the cakes which he brings to the two scriveners.
When he discovers that Bartleby has not been eating, the lawyer tips the grub-man a few dollars to be sure that Bartleby gets dinner. The lawyer returns to the prison a few days later and finds Bartleby lying dead in the prison courtyard. Apparently having starved himself to death, Bartleby’s withered body is found curled up, eyes open, facing the prison wall. To conclude his tale, the lawyer offers the reader a vague rumor about Bartleby as a possible explanation of his behavior. This famous passage concludes the story: “Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!”
The plot involves one man’s difficulty in coping with his employee’s peculiar form of passive resistance. One day, Bartleby the scrivener announces that he “would prefer not to” follow his employer’s orders or even to be “a little reasonable.” The resulting tragedy follows from Bartleby’s inability or unwillingness to articulate the reasons for his rebellion and from his employer’s inability to comprehend Bartleby’s reasons for resisting and ultimate unwillingness to accommodate him. The story has been interpreted by critics in numerous ways. Most have viewed it as a work of social criticism dealing with the psychological effects of capitalism as it existed in the 1850s. Others have viewed it as a philosophical meditation on the human condition, or as a religious parable on religion itself. However one interprets its ultimate meaning, the story provides an exploration into such universal issues of the human experience as alienation, passivity, nonconformity, and psychological imprisonment. The story’s enduring appeal largely stems from its well-crafted ambiguity. It is highly admired for its remarkable ability to accommodate multiple interpretations.
The title character of the story, Bartleby, is hired by the lawyer as a scrivener, whose job is to copy out legal documents by hand. Bartleby is described as neat, pale, and forlorn. Although Bartleby’s demeanor suggests sadness or discontent, he never expresses any emotion in the story and is described by the lawyer as “mechanical” in his actions. The plot of the story revolves around Bartleby’s enigmatic refusal to carry out his employer’s orders. When asked to perform a task, Bartleby frequently responds, “I would prefer not to.” This peculiarly passive form of resistance causes his employer much consternation. Eventually, Bartleby refuses to do anything at all and simply stares vacantly at the wall. Bartleby is finally carried off to prison, where he starves himself to death. The reason for Bartleby’s disturbed state of mind is never revealed, although the lawyer believes it may have something to do with a previous job that Bartleby may had held in the dead letter office of the U.S. Post Office. Because so little is learned about Bartleby in the story, critics have tended to interpret him in purely symbolic terms.
Bartleby replies that he prefers not to answer. The lawyer begs Bartleby to cooperate and be reasonable, but Bartleby responds that he prefers not to be reasonable. The lawyer resolves that he must rid himself of Bartleby before the rebellion spreads to the other scriveners—who, he notes, have begun to use the expression “prefer” for the first time—but he takes no immediate action. The next day, Bartleby informs the lawyer that he has given up copying—the one task that he had been willing to perform previously. Several more days pass. Finally, the lawyer is satisfied that Bartleby will never resume his work. He tells Bartleby that he must vacate the premises by the end of six days. At the end of the sixth day, the lawyer reminds Bartleby that he must leave, gives him his wages plus twenty dollars, and tells him goodbye. The next
Bartleby’s Peculiar Resistance. Because of an increased work load at his office, the lawyer is forced to hire a third scrivener. He hires Bartleby mostly on account of his sedate and respectable demeanor, which he hopes will temper the manners of his other two scriveners.
After his father’s death, Melville left school and worked odd jobs.
When he refuses to check the copies he does not show that is he worried or disturbed. He sees that the Lawyer is getting very angry and disturbed. He also sees that the Lawyer is becoming very irritated. If Bartleby were insane, he would not be able to preserve balance and calmness.
Conclusion Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener is one of the most confusing works of literature. On the one hand, readers cannot understand who Bartleby is, who he was, and who he wants to be. On the other hand, everything we read about Bartleby looks like the story about a mad man. In reality, it is not madness, ...
However, because Bartleby is so active and brave in his wish to protect his principles and his life, he influences and changes everyone around him: “Somehow, of late I had got into the way of involuntary using this word ‘prefer’ upon all sorts of not exactly suitable occasions.
Many people also cannot understand why he behaves this way. Melville tries to prove that Bartleby has his principles and cannot betray them.
Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener is a confusing work of literature. Some researchers think that in the story Melville described himself. Some others think that this is because of madness that Bartleby behaves so weird and finally, dies. In reality, Bartleby refuses to check some copies, but that cannot mean he is mad.
If Bartleby were insane, he would not be able to preserve balance and calmness. If he were insane he would be more emotional with the Lawyer. Moreover, he is very confident that his principles of life are very correct. If he were not that confident, he would not make the Lawyer so much curious about himself.
When he refuses the Lawyer’s aid he also builds a wall between himself and the rest of the world. He does not want the Lawyer to become a part of his world. He is an idealist.
He finds Bartleby's savings knotted in a bandanna and thrust into a recess of his desk and concludes that Bartleby has been living in the office at night. Thinking over Bartleby's general behavior, the lawyer concludes that the man does not converse, read, drink beer, or dine out.
Still, the lawyer delays taking action. The next day, Bartleby reveals that his vision is impaired.
Ginger Nut, the least mature of the foursome, suspects Bartleby of lunacy. Bartleby, saying nothing in his defense, withdraws to his corner. Days later, the narrator contemplates Bartleby's general behavior. He discerns that he never dines out and lives on a scanty diet of ginger cakes.
The lawyer knows that Bartleby is alone in the world, but nonetheless, he gives him six days to leave his employ. Surrounded by functionary stereotypes, the lawyer, a round character, considers himself a "safe" man. As such, he is conservative, rational, and ostensibly a charitable, approachable, but WASPish citizen.
In the coming days, Bartleby remains honest and industrious, except for singular pauses to stand in rever y and intermittent occasions when he prefers not to work. One Sunday morning, as the narrator walks toward Trinity Church, he stops at his office and discovers that Bartleby is locked inside.
The narrator subdues a belligerent Turkey, who would "black his [Bartleby's] eyes," and asks Bartleby to run an errand to the post office, a three-minute walk. Bartleby again refuses the request and refuses, as well, to summon Nippers to go on the errand. The narrator, unable to cope, leaves for dinner.
A few days later, Bartleby refuses to take part in scanning his own sheaf of quadruplicates. The lawyer, exasperated to the breaking point, asks his other employees their opinion in the matter. Turkey agrees that the lawyer has made a reasonable request; Nippers suggests that they kick Bartleby out of the office.