РефератыИностранный языкUnUntitled Essay Research Paper Bartleby the FailureIt

Untitled Essay Research Paper Bartleby the FailureIt

Untitled Essay, Research Paper


Bartleby, the Failure


It is not rare, sometimes it is even common, that an author speaks about


his or her self in their works. Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”


is often considered such a story. Many of the characters in the story and


images created allude to Melville’s writing career, which was generally deemed


a failure. The main character in the story can either be Bartleby or the


narrator, but Melville partially embodies both of them.


We are understanding towards the narrator’s reasoning for keeping Bartleby


and for the sympathy he shows for Bartleby. After the general failure of


Moby Dick, at least in Melville’s time, he immediately wrote Pierre, which


was a deeply personal novel. This self pity could have been continued in


“Bartleby, the Scrivener”. In addition, Bartleby seemed to feel that continuing


copying was worthless, possibly from spending many years in a dead letter


office. Melville probably felt this way, but needed to continue writing to


support his family. When Bartleby is in prison, he wastes away without abruptly


dying, a degeneration until the point no one notices his absence. Melville


had reached the prime of his popularity early in his career, so when he published


Moby Dick, his career was already in decline. His disappointment was only


to increase as his career diminished until his death which was hardly noticed


in the literary community.


The narrator also resembles M

elville, but in a different way. Melville uses


the narrator to view his own situation from a 3rd person perspective. He


attempts, and is somewhat successful, in getting readers to feel sympathy


for Bartleby, therefore, sympathy for him. On the contrary, the narrator


also scorns Bartleby’s persistence after he stops copying: “In plain fact,


he had now become a millstone to me…”(1149). In this respect, the narrator


also represents Melville’s literary critics.


Behind the relationship between Melville, the narrator, and Bartleby, one


can also see the relationship between the narrator and an ideal audience


that Melville would have wanted. He probably wished that his writing would


be more popular among the readers, although he professed his own demise with


Bartleby’s atrophy. His other employees, Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut,


were similar to other writers who inspired Melville, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne.


The narrator describes them as “most valuable” and “accomplishing a great


deal”(1133). However, this inspiration from other authors could have depressed


Melville, who was not nearly as successful.


In “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, Melville tries to relate to the reader and


explain his declining situation. This story, on an allegorical level represents


Melville, his life, and what he wished his reading audience would understand


about him. This is probably what he wanted, but readers, initially, see a


melancholy story about the condition of humanity.

Сохранить в соц. сетях:
Обсуждение:
comments powered by Disqus

Название реферата: Untitled Essay Research Paper Bartleby the FailureIt

Слов:501
Символов:3502
Размер:6.84 Кб.