Theme in Melville’s “Bartleby,
Theme in Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”: “Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!” says narrator at the end of the story (Melville 140). What is humanity in today’s society? Is that just another phrase that has no real meaning, or is it something that we used to have? Isolation from humanity, and alienation from ourselves inevitably leads to destruction of personality and finally to devastation of our physical being. Alienation and destruction is also in Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener”. This story depicts the conflict in the workplace between the narrator who is the lawyer and young, skinny, common, passive man named Bartleby. The author’s theme, that alienating qualities may inhibit humanity, and that those qualities eventually lead to destruction of humanity itself, is reflected through specific characters and their actions at work, and may be traced through the development of the story. The alienation of the individual in modern, industrial society is clearly seen in the character of Bartleby. At first, Bartleby is the best worker. La
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 742
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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