"Bartleby the Scrivener"

Analytical Essay # 61080

English > Analysis
Literature > American

Examines the narrator's changing attitudes toward Bartleby ,the Scrivener's soul, in this novel by Herman Melville.

762 words () | 1 source | 2005 United States

Paper Summary:

Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" relates the story of an employee at a Wall Street firm whose unconventional behavior captures the attention of his employer and disrupts the functioning of the office. As Bartleby's supervisor becomes familiar with the scrivener's unorthodox behavior, his attitudes toward his nihilistic employee evolve. The selection chosen for analysis in this paper reflects in microcosm the lawyer's changing attitudes toward Bartleby. In this selection, Melville's changing diction, point of view and tone all help him to portray the narrator's changing attitudes toward Bartleby and his conclusion concerning Bartleby's soul.

From the Paper:

"The narrator's point of view also evolves during the selection. As it begins, the narrator speaks in first person and has almost no insight into Bartleby's thoughts and feelings, which he describes as "dead-wall reveries" (p. 555), indicating his lack of insight. As the passage continues, the narrator develops a greater insight into Bartleby's actions. Although the passage continues to be narrated in the first person, Bartleby's employer indicates his increasing empathy and understanding. He states that "to a sensitive being, pity is not seldom pain. And when at last it is perceived that such pity cannot lead to effectual succor, common sense bids the soul be rid of it" (p. 556). This shows his increasing understanding of Bartleby's idiosyncrasies and the escalating level of empathy that he feels for his strange employee."