Commentary On Essay
“ Bartleby The Scrivner ” Essay, Research PaperThe character of the storyteller might be identified as a instead egoisticadult male who would instead & # 8216 ; prefer non to & # 8217 ; undergo a confrontation with any of hisemployees. This is apparent in his decriptions of the employees and his allegedgood purposes when he sets himself as a tolerant, contributing adult male. It is obviousthat his purposes and actions are merely for his ain ego involvement and hisdesiring to be thought of as assisting those who are non every bit fortunate as he. Allalong what he hopes to accomplish with his charity is to assist sooth his ain visionby bettering the physical province of others. His turning away of confrontation israther apparent when he really moves out of his office alternatively of holdingBartleby physically removed by the governments. His character is tested withBartleby & # 8217 ; s passive-aggressive attitude though I can non hold wholly that he is“ softened ” by his familiarity with Bartleby because in some respectshe was already soft.
Bartleby is definetly cut from a stronger fabric although hesurely has his ain manner of communicating. He does non give into the WallStreet hardness and does non make anything that does non accommodate him. He takes lifefor what it is deserving & # 8230 ; nil more and nil less. Even though he literallydoes non inquire for anything, he sends his message loud and clear: I will make what Ifeel necessary to last and everything else, “ I would prefer nonto.
” It is slightly amusing that in the strong corporate ambiance of theconcern universe, you have a foreman that would & # 8216 ; prefer to & # 8217 ; no Oklahoman battalion it up andacquire away from an employee than to hold to cover with him. All in all, thestoryteller is non cold and does stop up with a scruples which is apparent by hislook intoing on Bartleby both at the old office and the gaol. I think Barltebychallenged him in a manner that he had ne’er been challenged before and quitecandidly he did non cognize precisely what to make with him. Jamie FinkelmanI find the relationship between the writer and Bartleby to be a really unusual,unrealistic one, at least in today & # 8217 ; s society. Bartleby, an employee of thewriter, is under the bid of the writer, and is acquiring paid to make what thewriter says to make. Although Bartleby is really polite and unconfrontational whendeclining to make a occupation the writer petitions, Bartleby IS declining. If he & # 8217 ; s nonmaking what his foreman says as refering to his occupation, he shouldn & # 8217 ; t acquire paid. Theoccupation is non acquiring done.
If there was a state of affairs like this that happened todayin most any workplace, I would believe that the uncompliant employee would beterminated from his/her place that twenty-four hours. The writer nevertheless, merely allowsBartleby to move in whatever manner he chooses even when Bartleby is makingperfectly no work whatsoever. An employer today would see this behaviour as aharm to his billfold and would therefore waste no clip firing the employee.
I,personally, would hold fired Bartleby because he would non even give a ground asto why he would non make anything.Jennifer, I think the unusual relationship betweenBartleby and the employer is supposed to lookunrealistic. it makes the reader, particularly modern1s, think precisely the manner you did in your station. Thefact that employers would non or should non set up withthis sort of insubordination is precisely true. It makesyou wonder what is it about Bartleby that makes theemployer sympathetic to his “ demands ” .
The foreman seems tounderstand that there is something per se incorrectwith Bartleby, an implicit in unhappiness that he can nonfind the cause of, and I think he cares for him agreat trade and besides pities him every bit good. This is why hedoes non fire him or take utmost steps until heperfectly has to.Jen, I see what you mean about Bartleby? s relationship with the writer. Itdoes look really unusual.
I got the same feeling. I besides found it weird thatBartleby was declining to make the occupations that the writer asked him to make. You? reright though he truly is pretty considerate and respectful when denying thefact that he has a occupation to make for his employer. This is the manner that thisprocess goes the employer tells the employee what to make and when to make it.
Theoutlandishness in the affair is that Bartleby is declining to make so. Your really rightJen, today this type of intervention towards your employer would acquire youterminated. I would hold to state that Bartleby has no existent regard for hisemployer, but merely possibly an act. Person who would make this to their foreman wouldbe missing manners.The storyteller seems to hold a job in the narrative, he is sympathetic withBartleby passed a sensible point.
The storyteller allows Bartleby to merely declineorders and still state employed, taking commiseration on him it seems. The storyteller besidesseems to avoid confrontation with many others excessively, to the point of moving out ofhis office. Now he comes off as both a difficult and easy adult male, he does what isrequired of him largely, except when it comes to Bartleby. In Bartleby & # 8217 ; s instance,the storyteller is like a moisture noodle, flexing to Bartleby & # 8217 ; s caprices, even though heshould be fired. I think the storyteller perhpas was a cold adult male, but that Bartlebyallow him see a side of humanity he had antecedently, missed, and shows him thevalue of people, and of emotion. The storyteller follows up on Bartleby at the oldoffice and gaol, demoing that he did so hold more than merely a passinginvolvement.For the clients of these business communities, I think that muchgood is accomplished by their work. Whether we like themor non, attorneies are indispensable members of society.
However, the narrative is told from the point of position of aman of affairs, so more of import is what the workersthemselves think of the concern universe. Indeed, by theterminal of the narrative, the storyteller realizes merely what ableak being he leads and how he has disconnectedhimself with life outside of the concern kingdom.Unfortunately, after witnessing the ruin ofBartleby, I think that the storyteller reaches the point inhis life where he asks himself what the significance of hisbeing is.I really found the narrative to be one of the mostgratifying plants that we have read so far. I had no thoughtthat Melville could be so amusing.
For whatever ground,the insisting of Bartleby in utilizing the word “ prefer ”and his fellow employees so utilizing the word withoutcognizing it, I found to be highly humourous. In myposition, the narrative has become popular for grounds otherthan merely being an entertaining read and supplying aalone position on the concern universe. I think thatmany readers can place with the battles of thecharacters in the narrative.
In this information-drivensociety, many of us are consumed with our work, meetingdeadlines, and being every bit productive as possible. Muchlike the characters in the narrative, frequently times we feelthat our lives have been taken over by work.This storyteller is really reserved. He was selectful in taking his occupations due tohis character. He wishes to non be put in a place which may goconfrontational. That is why he chose to ne’er turn to the jury. He wants tostay discreet and by making so, he chooses to cover with mortgages, workss andbonds.
I believe his association with Bartleby has changed this storyteller.Previously, he would hold ne’er permitted such behavior in his employee whenasked to due a peculiar undertaking. He is a cautious single whose method is tobelieve things out exhaustively before acquiring involved. Normally, he would non holdgotten involved with helping Bartleby as he had attempted to make numerously.
Yet, he has grown respectful of Bartleby & # 8217 ; s steadfast ways and continued hisefforts. The significance of the scene of the narrative is a cryptic 1. Thenames of the employees are non revealed nor is the figure of the location. Thisleads me to believe that possibly this state of affairs really occurred and being asdiscreet as this storyteller is, he doesn & # 8217 ; t uncover excessively much. This is a sarcasm inthe concern universe because such behavior would non be tolerated. If employeeswere to incessively “ instead non ” finish a undertaking assigned by theirsupervisor, they would be terminated.
Furthermore, it is non permissable foremployees to shack in their topographic point of employment.The storyteller does good depicting himself in the narrative. If you follow closelyhe gives you many inside informations which give you an unsloped description of ego. Hecalls himself, ? an umambitious attorney & # 8230 ; & # 8230 ; with a profound strong belief thatthe easiest manner of life is the best.
? Others consider him an? eminently safeadult male? who seldom loses his pique. He is a conveyer and rubric huntsman with anoffice on Wall Street. He has a batch of compassion ( possibly non for society as awhole ) for Bartleby. I do non experience that the storyteller genuinely? changed? by hisassociation with Bartleby, but instead he changed merely when he was aroundBartleby.
It is hard to state, sing the storyteller does non offer anyexperiences other than those which Bartleby is associated, but I will state thatthe storyteller has made no lasting alteration in his life. The scene of the narrativeis important because Wall Street is comprised of all concerns, which meansthat? every dark of mundane it is in emptiness. ? Bartleby is content withbeing secluded at that place. The scene is besides important sing the satiricalintension of the concern universe. Bartleby is an interloper at that place, non because hewill non go forth, but because he is rejects all facets of concern.
And the factthat he is content on being at that place, gazing out the window, without imparting theslightest of his custodies to work, shows how much he dislikes it.364
