The way that Melville describes and shows each character is clear and distinct, adding to the humor and effectiveness of the text. Melville's characterizations are almost theatrical in that each man has specific traits that dramatize him and make him unique in the story. The scriveners in the office are all so flat, yet so dynamic and enjoyable. Turkey is charming in the mornings, when his face has a "fine florid hue," but after lunch (where he drinks) he comes back raging and red, and he writes so carelessly that he gets ink blots on the papers. He also, when speaking to his boss, says "'With submission, sir'" every line, something that might be in character with his morning persona, but is rather shocking with his afternoon persona, when he uses that phrase in the same sentence as "'gallantly charge the foe.'" Nippers, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of Turkey in every way. Nippers is quiet and fastidious, "piratical," and he knows nothing of what he wants in life besides that he does not want to be a scrivener. His fits of bad mood are in the mornings, the reason for them being implied that he is hungover from drinking the night before, but he gets over it by lunchtime. He and Turkey are, then, directly opposite each other in humor, serving almost as a Shakespearean duo of fools that play off each other unknowingly, for the audience's enjoyment. Melville's depiction of these men as such is wonderfully clever and funny, made all the more so by both Nippers' and Turkey's difference from Bartleby.
The narrator himself is blustering and biased, giving a first-person account of the events that is obviously skewed by his involvement in them and, of course, adding some humor with his reactions to Bartleby. He tells of Bartleby in relation to himself, in the context of his office and actions. Any mention of Bartleby is accompanied by the narrator's judgements or feelings; if the story was told impartially or from Bartleby's point of view, the understand of his obstruction in the office would be lost. The narrator can tell of the office as a whole, including the other characters, and he can show Bartleby in the grand scheme of the setting, while still being biased and missing some information. His discovery of information is what holds the piece together. The audience can experience Bartleby's denial with the narrator, rather than, for example, seeing how Bartleby feels from his own perspective. The narrator's missing information concerning Bartleby's past keeps the story going, as well as his conflict about what to do with the scrivener. The narration in this piece brilliantly highlights all of the elements and plot points that make the story as fascinating as it is.
Within the midst of all the blundering of the characters around Bartleby, we still see the existential themes of the story. Bartleby, of course, "prefers" not to do anything, even eat or move. His relationship to the world is entirely passive: he is inactive in every sense of the word, but his own reaction to this is not one of irreconcilable hopelessness, for he does not attempt suicide. It is as if he prefers not to exist, but does not want to take any action to ensure that this will be the case. The most fascinating thing is the revealed cause of his apathy. He had worked in the dead letter office of a post office, handling the letters that could neither be sent to the intended recipient nor returned to sender. Terry Pratchett, in his book Going Postal, calls a post office full of dead letters "a tomb of unheard words." As the narrator implies, the job of sorting and burning these letters, for "a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness," could prove to be maddening. The futility of writing letters, only to have them never read and burned, would have made itself apparent to Bartleby and driven him to the point of unending despondency.
I love this story. I always like things that are both ridiculous and dark, and this story is no exception. The characters and the way the story is told, as well as the plot itself and the themes in the story, make it literarily appealing, and the tiny funny or disturbing details make it personally appealing. I love that Bartleby only eats ginger nuts. It's such a weird little detail, but it's all that he can find the motivation to eat. Bartleby barely moves or speaks, and he has the most bland life that he can possible lead, but the only food that he eats is something as spicy as ginger. It's fascinating. The amount of detail that is crafted into this story, hidden under the guise of being silly and funny, is astounding. I love it, and I think that this is the best story that we've read.
The narrator himself is blustering and biased, giving a first-person account of the events that is obviously skewed by his involvement in them and, of course, adding some humor with his reactions to Bartleby. He tells of Bartleby in relation to himself, in the context of his office and actions. Any mention of Bartleby is accompanied by the narrator's judgements or feelings; if the story was told impartially or from Bartleby's point of view, the understand of his obstruction in the office would be lost. The narrator can tell of the office as a whole, including the other characters, and he can show Bartleby in the grand scheme of the setting, while still being biased and missing some information. His discovery of information is what holds the piece together. The audience can experience Bartleby's denial with the narrator, rather than, for example, seeing how Bartleby feels from his own perspective. The narrator's missing information concerning Bartleby's past keeps the story going, as well as his conflict about what to do with the scrivener. The narration in this piece brilliantly highlights all of the elements and plot points that make the story as fascinating as it is.
Within the midst of all the blundering of the characters around Bartleby, we still see the existential themes of the story. Bartleby, of course, "prefers" not to do anything, even eat or move. His relationship to the world is entirely passive: he is inactive in every sense of the word, but his own reaction to this is not one of irreconcilable hopelessness, for he does not attempt suicide. It is as if he prefers not to exist, but does not want to take any action to ensure that this will be the case. The most fascinating thing is the revealed cause of his apathy. He had worked in the dead letter office of a post office, handling the letters that could neither be sent to the intended recipient nor returned to sender. Terry Pratchett, in his book Going Postal, calls a post office full of dead letters "a tomb of unheard words." As the narrator implies, the job of sorting and burning these letters, for "a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness," could prove to be maddening. The futility of writing letters, only to have them never read and burned, would have made itself apparent to Bartleby and driven him to the point of unending despondency.
I love this story. I always like things that are both ridiculous and dark, and this story is no exception. The characters and the way the story is told, as well as the plot itself and the themes in the story, make it literarily appealing, and the tiny funny or disturbing details make it personally appealing. I love that Bartleby only eats ginger nuts. It's such a weird little detail, but it's all that he can find the motivation to eat. Bartleby barely moves or speaks, and he has the most bland life that he can possible lead, but the only food that he eats is something as spicy as ginger. It's fascinating. The amount of detail that is crafted into this story, hidden under the guise of being silly and funny, is astounding. I love it, and I think that this is the best story that we've read.
This post was very fun and engaging to read because you seemed to really enjoy this story and portrayed that well in your writing which I enjoyed. I liked how you spoke about each of the characters and how the author wrote about them in detail. Also, you included their typical lines in the story ("With submission, sir" & Bartleby's preference to not do anything) which was a positive addition to the post. I really loved this point about Bartleby: "It is as if he prefers not to exist, but does not want to take any action to ensure that this will be the case." It is so accurate and I liked how you worded this. Everything you said about Bartleby was true and comical to read. Overall, all of your points were spot on and you did a wonderful job talking about the story!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very thoughtful and creative post. It was overall very insightful and witty. I really enjoyed how you looked at and analyzed all of the characters and their personalities. Your attention to the details that make up the story is wonderful. For example, I loved how you mentioned the the ginger nuts. My favorite part of your post is "His relationship to the world is entirely passive: he is inactive in every sense of the word, but his own reaction to this is not one of irreconcilable hopelessness, for he does not attempt suicide" because it is so insightful. It would have been interesting if you had discussed how the story would have been different had it been told from one of the other office men's point of view. Overall this was really well written and enjoyable to read.
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