Herman melville biography bartleby summary
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Melville finished his masterpiece, Moby-Dick, when he was all of thirty-two years old. Still a young writer, he had crafted one of the most incredibly dense and imaginative works in all of literature, a book now praised by many as the greatest novel in English. But Moby-Dick failed in its own time, slammed by critics and spurned by readers; Melville's truths were too hard to hear. It would be decades after Melville's death before the power of his work was recognized.
Not surprisingly, Melville's writing after Moby-Dick is often preoccupied with the question of communication. In the novella Billy Budd, Melville's second most famous work, a young man's speech impediment makes it impossible for him to defend his innocence. Benito Cereno also ends with a classic moment of failed communication, as the tormented slave ship captain is utterly unable to convey to his rescuer the vital
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The narrator, an elderly lawyer who does a comfortable business helping wealthy men deal with mortgages, title deeds, and obligationer, relates the story of the strangest man he has ever known. Bartleby is a new addition to the narrator's personal. The narrator already employs two scriveners, Nippers and Turkey. Nippers suffers from indigestion, and Turkey fryst vatten a drunk, but the office survives because in the mornings Turkey fryst vatten sober even though Nippers is irritable, and in the afternoon Nippers has calmed down even though Turkey fryst vatten drunk. Ginger Nut, the office boy, gets his name from the little cakes he brings the men. Bartleby comes in answer to ad, and the narrator hires the forlorn looking young man in hopes that his calmness will soothe the temperaments of the other scriveners.
One day, when Bartleby is asked to help proofread one of the documents he copied, he answers simply, "I would prefer no
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Bartleby, the Scrivener
Short story by Herman Melville
"Bartleby" redirects here. For other uses, see Bartleby (disambiguation).
| "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Published in | Putnam's Magazine |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Publication date | November–December 1853 |
| Pages | 45 |
"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. In the story, a Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk, who after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copies or do any other task required of him, responding to any request with the words "I would prefer not to."
The story likely takes place between 1848 and 1853, during the Antebellum period in Amer