... Wall Street, Herman Melville portrays the deranged character and namesake of the novel, as a blatant critique of nineteenth century America. In spite of his seemingly antagonistic role in the novel, Bartleby is really a victim of his surroundings. He is an alienated proletarian in the American workplace, who, after asserting that his job and his future are meaningless, decides to waste away ... into death. The story begins with Bartleby seeking employment in the office of a scrivener; a glorified copyist. The narrator sums up the typical scrivener in his description of himself: an "unam...

• Word Count: 455
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the objective and subjective, so swings the theme from comedy to tragedy. Regardless of the two perspectives from which Herman Melville relates the story of Bartleby, the telling of a tragic story with humorous subjectivity, the story's plot and outcome determines the categorization. In fact, had Melville not peppered ... for his troubling behaviour. At that point, Melville introduces his first bit of comic relief, enlisting the audience's empathy in stating, "To befriend Bartleby; to humour him in his strange wilfulness will cost me little or nothing, while I lay up in my soul what wil...

• Word Count: 925
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate