Critical Analysis Of Bartleby The Scrivener - 1814 Words

Herman Melville’s â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener† and Willa Cather’s â€Å"Paul’s Case† present the complexity of both the experience and interpretation of loneliness by providing two antithetical lenses through which to view the title characters’ isolation. The end of â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener† is consolatory in nature, for Melville’s narrator sympathetically transfigures Bartleby from a symbol of difference to one of commonality. Melville implies that there is comfort to be sought in placing Bartleby within a larger picture by emphasizing the narrator’s sympathy for and affinity to Bartleby. Conversely, the final scene in â€Å"Paul’s Case† is disconsolate, for Cather suggests that the larger design to which Paul belongs is unsympathetic to his†¦show more content†¦Alternatively, Cather’s â€Å"Paul’s Case† suggests that an objective, impersonal reading is appropriate by po rtraying Paul’s story as a â€Å"case†. The medical connotations associated with the term â€Å"case† distance Paul by implying that the events presented in the narrative are unusual and are consequently under examination. Thus, the stories differentially emphasize the requirement of a compassionate reading, as indicated by the language of the titles. It is this incongruity in the stories’ presupposition of readerly sympathy that the endings confirm and use to enhance the authorial attitudes. The final scenes of â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener† and â€Å"Paul’s Case† affirm the contrasting positions set up by their titles through their opposing applications of hope, closure, and consolation. In accordance with Melville’s prescription of a sympathetic reading, he indicates that there is hope to be found at the end of the story. Despite the â€Å"amazing thickness† (Melville 536) of the jail walls within which Bartleby is kept, there is grass that, â€Å"by some strange magic† (Melville 536), began growing. The image of the grass blossoming in a setting that is not conducive to germination provides hope that something may grow out of the narrator’s experience with Bartleby. In fact, the almost talismanic quality of the blooming grass implies that there may even be hope for Bartleby, who â€Å"by nature and misfortune† (Melville 537) was disposed to a â€Å"pallid hopelessness† (Melville 537).Show MoreRelatedCritic al Analysis Of Bartleby The Scrivener721 Words   |  3 Pages Herman Melville’s â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener,† Melville questions the efficiency of property ownership in terms of wealth. Through the actions of the lawyer and the scrivener, Bartleby, Melville portrays two contrary views concerning the importance of money in society. Meanwhile, the lawyer resolutely considers money as a commodity, assigning all materialistic items a dollar value. Bartleby indirectly implies his belief that money purposely acting as a concept openly disregarding and opposing itsRead More Themes of Hopelessness in Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener1233 Words   |  5 Pagesliterary analyses. This is especially the case with Herman Melville’s â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener†. Critics have been trying for decades to make sense of the text and most will describe it as â€Å"inscrutable†. I don’t claim to know better than the critics, but instead offe r my own interpretation of the work. Based on my observations and analysis, Melville’s use of many elements in his story—first and foremost the character of Bartleby, but also the dead letters, the many walls of Wall Street, and the stateRead MoreThe Worlds Greatest Short Stories By Guy De Maupassant1678 Words   |  7 Pagestragedy that we have throughout our lives are paired with particular stimuli and reinforcers, like seeing certain types of video clips on the news, and thereby elicit certain behaviors from us. In the book, The World’s Greatest Short Stories, analysis of the stories for tragic elements based on the theory we were studying lead to quite contrasting views from my fellow classmates and myself. One of the stories that was found to have controversial audience responses was, The Necklace, written byRead More Compare and Contrast Billy Budd versus Bartleby Essay1876 Words   |  8 PagesComparison/Contrast Analysis of Billy Budd and Bartleby Several comparisons and contrasts can be made concerning the two stories, Billy Budd and Bartleby, written by Herman Melville. The setting of the two stories reveals an interesting comparison and contrast between the British Navy on the open sea, and the famous Wall Street of New York. The comparison and contrast of characters, Billy Budd, Captain Vere, and Claggart in Billy Budd, and the `narrator and Bartleby in Bartleby, at times are