ENG 250W Lecture Notes - Lecture 33: Herman Melville, Civil Disobedience, W. M. Keck Observatory
Document Summary
Herman melville, bartleby the scrivener (norton b, 1469-1495) Melville was a best selling author, wrote really good adventure stories. It was believed that he went mad once he began to write "weird stories" and he career began to fall apart. Balance in the character of the two clerks (scriveners) Narrator is very patient unnamed manhattan lawyer with a comfortable business employs scribes to copy documents by hand increase in business leads him to advertise for a third, and he hires the forlorn-looking bartleby. At first, bartleby produces a large volume of high-quality work. one day, when asked to help proofread a document, bartleby answers with what soon becomes his perpetual response to every request "i would prefer not to. " This irritated the lawyers and the other scribes. Bartleby performs fewer and fewer tasks and eventually none. The lawyer stops by the office one sunday morning, he discovers that.
