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.You might begin to thinkabout this topic by considering the relationships between thenarrator and his employees, for Nippers, Turkey, Ginger Nut,and Bartleby are clearly of a lower social class than the nar-rator.In order to focus an essay on this topic even more, youcould examine the theme of charity that runs throughout 150 Bloom s How to Write about Herman Melvillethe text.What acts of charity do you see in the story? Whatmotivates the charity? At some points, the narrator actuallyengages in philosophical musings on the nature of charity aswell as various motivations for and against charity.How dothese musings help to focus the story as a commentary on therelationship between the social classes?3.Perception and understanding: The language of vision, sight,and understanding runs throughout this text.How does Bar-tleby, the Scrivener focus on the human ability to see and tounderstand others?The opening paragraph emphasizes that the story is built onwhat the narrator s own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, andlater, when the narrator asks Bartleby why he has quit copy-ing, the scrivener responds, Do you not see the reason foryourself? Consider what the narrator sees, what he does notsee, and what he understands.Identify other references to thenarrator s (or society s) ability to see.At one point, the narra-tor speculates that Bartleby has stopped copying because hisvision has been impaired by his job.At what other pointsdoes the story comment on Bartleby s vision and his eyes? Isthis theme of seeing and understanding connected to any ofthe other themes in the story? How is this language related tothe dominant patterns of imagery in the story? What, finally,does Melville conclude about humans abilities to see, tounderstand, and to know?CharacterIn the opening paragraphs of the story, the narrator claims that his intentis to provide readers with a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who wasa scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of, and he refers to the scriv-ener as the chief character about to be presented. At the same time, thenarrator claims that insufficient materials exist for a full biography of Bar-tleby, and he calls attention to the limited scope of his account.The storyis limited to [w]hat [his] own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby. Both thisparagraph and those that immediately follow focus readers attention so Bartleby, the Scrivener 151firmly on the narrator that it is clear that Melville as well as the narratorhimself wants readers to focus as much attention on the lawyer as onthe scrivener.Indeed, the story line focuses on the relationship betweenthese two figures.Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say that the storyfocuses on the effect that Bartleby has upon the narrator.Consequently,it is nearly impossible to write a paper that focuses wholly on either char-acter.A study of the narrator must consider his interaction with andresponse to Bartleby.An analysis of Bartleby must be informed by anawareness that the reader sees only what the narrator saw of Bartlebyand only what he chooses to share about Bartleby.While the relationshipbetween these two must inform essays about either character, you still canfind plenty of ways to focus essays on the behavior, attitudes, or meaningsof either the narrator or Bartleby.Papers on the lawyer, for instance, mightfocus on his reliability as a narrator.Why do you think that he choosesto tell the story of Bartleby in the first place? Does his professed motiva-tion (that Bartleby was a scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of )seem completely honest and forthright? There is no denying that Bartlebyis strange, but does that account for the narrator s desire to tell the story oftheir time together? Why else might the lawyer feel the need to write andto share an account of his encounter with Bartleby?Sample Topics:1.The narrator: As the opening section of this chapter indicates,the lawyer/narrator of Bartleby is an important character inthe story, and some readers even consider him the chief char-acter. Not surprisingly, critical interpretation of the narratorhas varied widely over the years, for the narrator is a conflictedcharacter.After finally taking leave of both his office and of Bar-tleby, the narrator remarks:As soon as tranquility returned I distinctly perceived that Ihad now done all that I possibly could, both in respect to thedemands of the landlord and his tenants, and with regard tomy own desire and sense of duty, to benefit Bartleby [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.You might begin to thinkabout this topic by considering the relationships between thenarrator and his employees, for Nippers, Turkey, Ginger Nut,and Bartleby are clearly of a lower social class than the nar-rator.In order to focus an essay on this topic even more, youcould examine the theme of charity that runs throughout 150 Bloom s How to Write about Herman Melvillethe text.What acts of charity do you see in the story? Whatmotivates the charity? At some points, the narrator actuallyengages in philosophical musings on the nature of charity aswell as various motivations for and against charity.How dothese musings help to focus the story as a commentary on therelationship between the social classes?3.Perception and understanding: The language of vision, sight,and understanding runs throughout this text.How does Bar-tleby, the Scrivener focus on the human ability to see and tounderstand others?The opening paragraph emphasizes that the story is built onwhat the narrator s own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, andlater, when the narrator asks Bartleby why he has quit copy-ing, the scrivener responds, Do you not see the reason foryourself? Consider what the narrator sees, what he does notsee, and what he understands.Identify other references to thenarrator s (or society s) ability to see.At one point, the narra-tor speculates that Bartleby has stopped copying because hisvision has been impaired by his job.At what other pointsdoes the story comment on Bartleby s vision and his eyes? Isthis theme of seeing and understanding connected to any ofthe other themes in the story? How is this language related tothe dominant patterns of imagery in the story? What, finally,does Melville conclude about humans abilities to see, tounderstand, and to know?CharacterIn the opening paragraphs of the story, the narrator claims that his intentis to provide readers with a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who wasa scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of, and he refers to the scriv-ener as the chief character about to be presented. At the same time, thenarrator claims that insufficient materials exist for a full biography of Bar-tleby, and he calls attention to the limited scope of his account.The storyis limited to [w]hat [his] own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby. Both thisparagraph and those that immediately follow focus readers attention so Bartleby, the Scrivener 151firmly on the narrator that it is clear that Melville as well as the narratorhimself wants readers to focus as much attention on the lawyer as onthe scrivener.Indeed, the story line focuses on the relationship betweenthese two figures.Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say that the storyfocuses on the effect that Bartleby has upon the narrator.Consequently,it is nearly impossible to write a paper that focuses wholly on either char-acter.A study of the narrator must consider his interaction with andresponse to Bartleby.An analysis of Bartleby must be informed by anawareness that the reader sees only what the narrator saw of Bartlebyand only what he chooses to share about Bartleby.While the relationshipbetween these two must inform essays about either character, you still canfind plenty of ways to focus essays on the behavior, attitudes, or meaningsof either the narrator or Bartleby.Papers on the lawyer, for instance, mightfocus on his reliability as a narrator.Why do you think that he choosesto tell the story of Bartleby in the first place? Does his professed motiva-tion (that Bartleby was a scrivener the strangest I ever saw or heard of )seem completely honest and forthright? There is no denying that Bartlebyis strange, but does that account for the narrator s desire to tell the story oftheir time together? Why else might the lawyer feel the need to write andto share an account of his encounter with Bartleby?Sample Topics:1.The narrator: As the opening section of this chapter indicates,the lawyer/narrator of Bartleby is an important character inthe story, and some readers even consider him the chief char-acter. Not surprisingly, critical interpretation of the narratorhas varied widely over the years, for the narrator is a conflictedcharacter.After finally taking leave of both his office and of Bar-tleby, the narrator remarks:As soon as tranquility returned I distinctly perceived that Ihad now done all that I possibly could, both in respect to thedemands of the landlord and his tenants, and with regard tomy own desire and sense of duty, to benefit Bartleby [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]