NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street Herman Melville presents this story through a nameless narrator who is the lawyer. An elderly lawyer who sees himself as a good businessman, helping wealthy men transact with mortgages, title deeds, and bonds. The lawyer introduces us to one of the strangest man he has ever known, Bartleby. The lawyer has already employed two other scriveners, Nippers and Turkey.
Nippers suffers from eating disorders while Turkey is a drunk, but the office continues to operate since in the mornings Turkey is clear-headed even though Nippers is bad-tempered, and in the afternoon Nippers has comforted down even though Turkey is drunk, so both balance into one worker. Ginger Nut, the office boy, receives his name from bringing little cakes to the other scriveners. Bartleby arrives after answering to an ad; the lawyer hires the forlorn looking young man in hopes that his tranquility will calm the temperaments of the other scriveners. Bartleby is requested to help proofread a document he has copied, he simply replied, "I would prefer not to. " This is the first of many refusals.
The narrator is not only shocked but irritated with Bartleby as well. Bartleby from now on will take part in less and less duties in the office. The lawyer tries numerous attempts to reason with Bartleby. Bartleby continues to respond the same way when requested to do something or give any information about himself he always replies: "I would prefer not to. " One day, while the lawyer decides to visit the office, he finds out that Bartleby has been living in the office. Bartleby is an isolated man.
After all, nights and Sundays on Wall Street is like a ghost town. The Lawyer does not know how to feel since he is confused and feels revulsion and pity for Bartleby and his peculiar behavior. Bartleby is continuously described as ghost like and pitiful. Bartleby always refuses duties, until at last he is not working at all. The lawyer cannot get rid of him. The scrivener seems to have a strange power over his employer, and the narrator feels pity and cant do anything to hurt this hopeless man.
The lawyers attempts to rid of Bartleby are ineffective. Therefore the narrator feels it is necessary to move his offices to a new location. But, even the new tenants of the lawyers old offices come to him for help: Bartleby is aloof and will not budge. When he leaves he succeeds in haunting the hallways.
The lawyer went to see Bartleby for one last effort to reason with him, but Bartleby discards him. The narrator stays out from work for a couple days since he could not be bothered with others. Upon his return, he finds out that Bartleby has been thrown into prison. In prison, Bartleby becomes even more despaired. The lawyers kindliness is turned down. Bartleby's refusals are continuous.
Bartleby is, as always, isolated and alienated from society as well as from him self. The lawyer tries to make sure Bartleby will be well fed. But when the lawyer comes to see Bartleby he has already died, He had preferred not to eat. As days passed, the lawyer hears a rumor that Bartleby had worked in a Dead Letter Office. Thus, the lawyer implies that the dead letters could have made someone like Bartleby and his personality descend into an even darker obscurity. The letters are symbols of mortality and the collapse of humanity.
Bartleby, succeeded in showing the lawyer a miserable world, as the scrivener must have seen it. The lawyer realizes, after sixty years, the needs and frustrations he has been avoiding all these years. It is clear that a person who isolates himself from society is better off dead. One of the things we learn here is that we must all live according to social norms. Life will be useless if not lived.
Free research essays on topics related to: wall street, narrator feels, herman melville, lawyer, bartleby
Research essay sample on Herman Melville Narrator Feels
