One with the Scrivner
Name the following traits -
1. The color of his voice
2. The sound of his character
3. The nature of his presence in the narrative
4. The status of his self-reliance
5. Your comment on his ending (self-inflicted)
Afterwards, read the other people's comments and use this week's journal entry (due Monday December 3rd) to write an editorial for today's reception of this 19th century narrative, focusing on the presence of the Scrivner.
posted by belag at Tuesday, November 27, 2007
8 Comments:
1. Dull, monotonous.
2. Tenacious, determined.
3. Bartleby is a solitary figure around which events of the plot revolve.
4. He only sits and remains silent because it is the only way to be self-reliant; there is no other way to be self-sufficient and completely independent.
5. I did not expect death, but I more or less understand why he dies in the end. In my opinion, Melville made Bartleby die in the end to show that the kind of self-reliance Emerson and Thoreau are promoting brings no good.
7:28 PM
1. transparent; there is no tone to it that can be good or bad; inexistent
2. Flat, not because he has no characteristics, but because he doesn't display emotions
3. He is the main character but in an ambiguous way; the story is about him although he is not that outstanding character about which stories are usually written.
4. Utopic. Complete self-reliance is impossible and only negative, a balance of self-reliance and relationships with the "outer world" have to be achieved to have at least a partial success in this philosophy.
5. The right curtain call for this type of character in this type of story. No other finale was possible.
9:42 PM
1)The color of Bartleby's voice is like a washed away shirt. The original color of the t shirt when you buy it fades away as you dump it in the washing machine. At first he works diligently, then he prefers not to do anything.
2) Bartleby's voice is really indifferent because of the fact that everything he says is neither excessive nor inadequate; "I prefer not to"
3) I find Bartleby's character and nature of his presence in the narrative a desolate one because he does not require the presence of any of his companions.
4) Bartleby's status in society is one of a misfit such as an antelope chillin in a lion's den. This man simply does not belong. His self-reliance leads him to a critical point where his life no longer matters or functions, thus leaving him with nothing to cling on to.
5) My comment on his ending (self-reliance) is that I easily expected the things to occur as they did. The eccentric foreshadowing tools used in the novel supported my prediction.
7:46 PM
1)Bartleby's voice relates to a pen that runs out of ink because we do not know why Bartleby prefers not to do anything. It simply "runs out"
2) The sound of Bartleby's character is like a speaker without a microphone and the audience cannot really cope with what he has to say.
3) The nature of Bartleby's presence in the narrative is that of one whose cause is misunderstood like James Dean in "Rebel without a cause."
4)The status of his self-reliance is that of a man who "only prefers not to"
5)My comment is exactly what I expected of a man who takes self-reliance to an extreme.
8:08 PM
1.We dont get to hear Bartleby's voice that often except when he says"I frefer not to" which he keeps repeating it and it becomes so mundane. Actually, the color of this voice is so bright which other people cant stand it. Its so irritating!
2.Bartleby appears very indifferent through out the story. He does not show any emotions, or reaction.
3.The focus of other characters is all on Bartleby, which makes him so heroic. Yet, he does not perform any heroic event, nor is he willing to do anything.
4.Bartleby prefers not to work;yet, he does not flee the office. This represents his self-reliance. He expresses his free will to do and not to do things.
5.Bartleby's self-reliance is dramatically ironic because we,as reader, foreshadowed his end, taking into consideration Bartleby's extreme self-reliance.
However, Bartleby himself wasnt aware of what will happen to him and what his boss was thinking about him!
9:31 PM
1. Impassive, reconciled and irritating because of its repetition of same words
2. Self-confident, unaffected by any person, object, event...Static character with a constantly static and stubborn character.
3. The nature of his passive character creates the developing of the story. He is the central figure in the story and all events revolve around him.
4. Bartleby 'prefers to be' self relianed. He follow the rules of his own imagination, and does what he prefers it the best to be done. But the aspect of self-reliance leads him to his downfall.
5. I defenitively feel sorry for Bartleby because I know only the narrator's perspective, what if there was a reason behind all this, what if...
11:37 PM
1. The color of his voice is gray, actually black that went in the washing machine so many times. we can feel the darkness in the voice.
2. The sound of his character is constant, sometimes even annoying.
3. Bartleby is fixed figure around which the mystery story about him is moving.
4. The status of Bartleby's self-reliance is a symbol for independence but in the same time for deep suffering.
5. The end of the story is expected because of the way how he is reacting to all around him. It seems like he wants to die.
11:52 PM
1. The color of Bartelby’s voice can be any color devoid of connotative association; any pale and dull color.
2. Starting from the name, Bartelby sounds as something one has to repeat over and over to get through the petrified nature of his character (something the Lawyer does, but does not succeed).
3. Bartelby is a perfect example of social uselessness. He is like an organ that stops working so that it can alienate itself from the system thus affecting the other ones around him; like a cancer infected tissue.
4. The status of Bartelby’s self-reliance is over-exaggerated in order to emphasize the inutility of self-reliance extremists in the society (ergo the ironic nature of the narrative)
5. The ending of Bartelby and Bartelby can be easily anticipated due to the logical sequence of the development of ultimate self-reliance. I am even sorry I have to say that I want Bartelby to end that way, simply because (and I am sorry if I myself sound too brutal) I cannot place him anywhere else.
8:59 AM
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