Abstract
This essay details the plot of the story "Bartleby, the Scrivener" about a man named Bartleby that lives a hopeless and pitiful existence. As the story goes on, Bartleby becomes a successful professional working with lawyers. The narrator of the story is a lawyer who worked with Bartleby and details his memories of him. This paper compares these two characters: the narrator and Bartleby.

From the Paper
"At first reading, Bartleby's story seems nothing more than a hopeless tragedy. He seems to have no reason to live, and even less a reason to die. He has no friends, no life other than his work. Even that is not pleasing to him, and he stops doing it. There is no purpose to his life. By the end, we wonder if the purpose really was to help others see their own shortcomings, and learn more about themselves. That is what seems to happen to the narrator of the story; he changes forever by knowing this strange, quiet man."

Tags:Melville, Herman, Bartleby, Scrivener, sad, life, narrator, lawyer, characters

Abstract
This paper iscusses the theme of Herman Melville's story, "Bartleby the Scrivener." The author points out that, as a story of self-destruction, the tale is about a man Bartleby who succumbs to the strain of attempting to conform to the rules of a society, which he no longer believes in. The paper relates that the story is written from the point of view of the narrator and his attempt to save Bartleby.

From the Paper
"Herman Melville's creation Bartleby, who appears in his story "Bartleby, the Scrivener", is a man who lives in a highly straightened world. His story is that of a man who at first appears as if he should be able to meet the expectations of his society. Bartleby ..."

Tags:Bartleby, Melville, Narrator, Story

Abstract
This paper is an analysis of Bartleby the Scrivener in Melville's short novel, "Bartleby." It addresses Bartleby's iconic representation of lost humanity, spiritual death, the implications of delusion and his unwillingness to promote verifiable truth.

From the Paper
"In Herman Melville's short novel Bartleby the main character is a mysterious stranger with whom the narrator and therefore the reader, never becomes truly acquainted in spite of repeated efforts. Bartleby is a ghostly presence-devoid ..."

Tags:Melville, Bartleby, spiritual death, Bible, truth, lost humanity, delusion, verifiable truth

Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses that Rebecca Harding Davis's "Life in the Iron Mills" and Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" differ in how the two stories construe class relations. The writer maintains that by incorporating chapter seven from 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' by James W. Loewen into this analysis, it becomes clear that the former piece depicts a more realistic vision of class relations while the later presents a humorous, non-realistic view of class relations.

From the Paper
"Rebecca Harding Davis's' Life in the Iron Mills' and Herman Melville's 'Bartleby the Scrivener' differ in how the two stories construe class relations. By incorporating chapter seven from 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' by James W Loewen into this analysis it becomes clear that the former piece depicts a more realistic vision of class relations while the latter presents a humorous non-realistic view of class relations. In 'Life in the Iron Mills' the reader is confronted by the barbarity of the conditions ..."

Tags:Bartleby the Scrivener, Life in the Iron Mills, class relations, stratification, lower class, working class

Abstract
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."

Tags:american, literature

Abstract
This paper discusses how within Herman Melville's work, "Bartleby the Scrivener", there is a sense that the development of the romantic or transcendental hero is seen in the de-development of Bartleby as a character. It examines how, as Bartleby deconstructs his role, at first by refusing to do anything but copy manuscripts and then flatly refusing to copy and leave the premises, which he has recently been discovered to be living in.

From the Paper
"The employer sees that between he and Bartleby there are similarities and yet that he and Bartleby are also infinitely disconnected from each other, a complete mystery to one another as he soul of one was rejecting of life, and industry and the soul of the employer was embracing such. The employer then goes on to describe how, amongst the civilities and niceties of the visual world, hiding in dark places, there is true human misery, and Bartleby's soul is an example of just such a place of darkness."

Tags:employer, wall, street

Abstract
This paper details the writing style of a paragraph within "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street." It focuses on how the author uses a certain style to bring out character traits, storyline, and tone. It further examines how an author can use a dull character to tell an interesting story.

From the paper:

"'Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street,' is perhaps one of the earliest and most potent satires of American corporate culture in the American literary canon. It tells the story of a scrivener. A scrivener is a law-copyist. This particular copyist named Bartleby infuriates his superiors by his refusal to work. Such a refusal is not only anathema to them, it confounds them. They attempt to fire him, but Bartleby refuses to leave his office. It is through his refusal to work, and to give no coherent reason for doing so other than he would prefer not to, that the entire system is shaken. This paper analyzes a paragraph of the short story and illustrates how the paragraph's language, its literary devices, and its tone expose the short story's central themes."

Tags:Melville, literature, writing

Abstract
This paper examines how, in the short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener", one of the more interesting character interactions is the narrator's reaction to Bartleby. The paper discusses how, if one observes this situation in the context of the ideas of Max Weber, it seems that Weber would most likely credit the way the narrator reacts to Bartleby to the ethos of capitalism instilled in the narrator by his Protestantism. The paper explains that it is this ethos that causes the narrator to be so perplexed by Bartleby, as well as what leads to the narrator's compassion towards him.

From the Paper
"In order to claim that that narrator's capitalist ethos is at the root of the narrator's reaction we must first show that the narrator indeed has such an ethos. In "Bartleby" the narrator exhibits ascetic Protestantism, which Weber claims is the religious foundation that defines the current capitalist ethos. It is easy to see that the narrator is religious when his is "... [going] to Trinity Church," (Melville 16). Even more proof comes on page 28 when the narrator reads Jonathan Edwards and is mulling over the issue of predestination. Both of these are signs that the narrator is Calvinist, as Edwards was a Puritan writer and predestination is a predominantly Calvinist principle. Signs of asceticism also show up in the setting of the narrator's office, which has windows that "...afford a lateral view of certain grimy back-yards and bricks," (8) and is scantly decorated. It is evident that in "Bartleby" the narrator has a Protestant background that instills in him an ethos of capitalism that affects his relation with his scrivener Bartleby."

Tags:max, weber, narrator

Abstract
This paper explains that the story of Bartleby is ambiguous because the reader sees Bartleby's life entirely from the outside, never hearing anything in Bartleby's own voice except the repeated, "I would prefer not to." The author points out that some critics see Melville's image of Bartleby as reflecting his view of Henry David Thoreau and as a satirical comment on Thoreau's writings; Melville was fixated on Thoreau, despite the fact that there is no evidence that he ever met him. The paper concludes that Melville's life is more clearly evident in his sea stories; much of what is thought about his inner life and how it is reflected in this story is highly speculative although the ways he treats other characters faced with authority are similar to his other works.

From the Paper
"It is possible that Bartleby has had some revelation about his life and has come to an understanding of the need to escape it. This is never clear, but Bartleby's way of escaping is clear--he withdraws into himself. Bartleby withdraws into a smaller and smaller space until he is not there at all. In his own way, Bartleby is quite reasonable about his withdrawal, a fact noted by the narrator when Bartleby first makes his declaration of preference: "With any other man, I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence. But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but, in a wonderful manner, touched and disconcerted me.""

Tags:speculative, authority, ambiguous, wall, thoreau

Abstract
This paper shows that although the story of Bartleby does not chronologically follow the events reported in the New Testament, a strong similarity between events can nevertheless be seen. For example, the main character Bartleby is likened to Jesus Christ and the story is about the effect that Bartleby had on those around him.

From the Paper
"In addition to quickly establishing that the lawyer as a Christian, the sentence also suggests that he apparently did not attend services regularly. In addition to this, it also establishes the fact that he is a man of letters, laws and words rather than of true devotion. His reason for attending a church service is not because of suggested reverence or piousness - or even because of a sense of moral obligation or duty. Instead, the narrator is attending church on this particular morning because he desires to hear a "celebrated" preacher speak. This seems to be more a matter of entertainment than devotion to him."

Tags:narrator, lawyer, jesus, christ, christianity, pilate