Though the lawyer in “Bartleby, the Scrivener” initially presents himself — through his own narration — as an emotionally-detached and analytical individual, Melville involves this character emotionally and directly in the conflict as the plot progresses. The development of the narrator’s character reveals the significance of the human spirit in a social context.
At first, the lawyer introduces himself as a detached, analytical narrator. He states that the nature of his “avocations” has brought him into “more than ordinary” contact with a somewhat “singular” set of men known as “scriveners”. His elevated diction and voice present him as an emotionally-detached individual. He makes the lengthy, scientific-like introduction for his scriveners in an analytical manner as if he were writing a scientific research paper. In this way, the narrator attempts to distinguish himself from his scriveners and establish a sense of authority.
Melville, the author, develops the narrator’s character — in contrast to the narrator’s own presented views — as the story progresses. After doing everything in the narrator’s ability to try to persuade Bartleby to leave the law office — including offering Bartleby twenty extra dollars and a good reference, Bartleby continues to camp lifelessly inside the office. Frustrated, the narrator describes himself as being “thunderstruck” by Bartleby’s polite, yet stubborn defiance. In a sharp contrast to the narrator’s earlier attempt to establish his superiority and authority in his narration, the narrator has become powerless even to his scrivener.
To further contrast his initial narrative image and show his inability in dealing with Bartleby, the narrator becomes emotionally involved in the conflict. The narrator feels a “charitable prompting” to visit “poor Bartleby” after relocating his office. We see a continued change in the narrator’s character — further contrasting his own narrative image — as he pities and becomes emotionally-attached to Bartleby.
Melville develops the narrator and shows the progression in character in this story to reveal, in a social context, the significance of the human spirit. Although the narrator attempts to portray himself as a superior individual, reality shows that he does not hold absolute authority over the “singular” set of men known as “scriveners”. Reality shows that he, too, has emotions. Reality shows that after all, he is, and we are all but human, that it is inevitable to find the human spirit in all of us.
26.Jun.08 
Writing 
Comments (2)
Since this blog got under way in March 07, I have, to date, received exactly 9,999 spam comments. Of course, everything’s been taken care of by handy dandy Akismet.
I feel a sense of accomplishment, even pride, in having reached this “magical” number 
25.Jun.08 Blog Updates Comment (1)
It’s 5 minutes after 6:00 AM. I’m up, munching down a mango-flavoured, yogurt-like tofu snack, listening to Tom Allen on CBC Radio 2’s Music and Company. The sky is gray out – really can’t complain though. I really can’t remember the last time I was up this early. Oh, wait, I can: I went out for a run one eventful morning of May at 5:30 AM, after pulling an all-nighter (that’s probably what messed up my internal clock).
For the past few days, I had the worst experience getting up every morning. It’s not that I felt really tired or anything: I’d drift awake at 9:00 or so, turn to my right side and battle with the alarm clock, or turn to my left and battle with the blinding glare. I’d wake up all grumpy, miss my breakfast, and even lunch.
I then realized that for the past little bit, it’s not that I couldn’t wake up, but had a terrible experience doing so. I happened to stumple onto Tim Ferriss’s post “Relax Like A Pro: 5 Steps to Hacking Your Sleep” (in my opinion, only the first step isn’t ultra-extreme):
1. Consume 150-250 calories of low-glycemic index foods in small quantities (low glycemic load) prior to bed.
Morning fatigue and headache isn’t just from sleep debt or poor sleep. Low blood sugar following overnight fasting is often a contributing factor. Just prior to bed, have a small snack such as: a few sticks of celery with almond butter, a mandarin orange and 5-8 almonds, or plain low-fat (not fat-free) yoghurt and an apple. Ever wonder how you can sleep 8-10 hours and feel tired? This is part of the explanation. Make a pre-bed snack part of your nutritional program.
1-2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil (120-240 calories) can be used in combination with the above to further increase cell repair during sleep and thus decrease fatigue. It tastes like a mixture of cat urine and asparagus, so I recommend pinching your nose while consuming it — thanks Seth Roberts, PhD. for this tip — or using capsules.
I figured that since I’ve been pushing my body so hard these days, and the fact that all this work wasn’t supported by a proper diet (which was getting worse day after day due to getting up late), my body was really in debt the past few days.
So here’s what I had before going to bed last night (yes, last night, as in before 12:00 AM ): an apple — which made me even more hungry, a granola bar, some juice, some antioxidants. Basically loaded myself up with some fast glucose.
Voila. Here I am. Up at 6:20 AM. Alive and bouncing!
(@ 6:43 AM… pffft Urban Fare’s breakfast items aren’t even ready! I’m catching the last Cage Match on Music and Company! 
)
25.Jun.08 Life Comments (0)
Freedom. Freedom at long last. Done with my last exam. Done with high school. Woooohoooooo! Since the livin’ has become so easy, I’ll keep this post short ‘n sweet.
- 16 days left in Vancouver
- 16 days and a plane trip (+ some jet-lagging) till Beijing
- Gotta stay in shape in the next two weeks (though, I am slacking off today after yesterday’s torture)!
- Gotta install Gentoo Linux on my new Thinkpad T61 before the trip
- Gotta pick up my horn and work on those diatonic patterns (D is the key of the month — and probably the next!)
- Gotta end this post, now (oh, and uh… catch some Euro 2008, pick up books from VPL… enjoy the Vancouver International Jazz Festival while I still can…)
23.Jun.08 Life Comments (0)
I really hate the feeling of long, wet hair on the back of my neck. It’s either that or having to use a blow dryer with a focuser, on low heat, and to stand and wait for ten minutes… So I got a bit of a trim yesterday, from the Japanese place, Air Hair Salon:
(Gasp! haven’t had a short hairstyle in quite a while)
In other news… I did a bit of a fitness test today and I’m quite pleased with the results. I started getting back into the routine a bit over half a year ago and went to the gym almost daily (increasingly harder whole-body workouts — mainly body weight — one day, interval sprints the other — sprint 1 min, run 2 min, x 4).
On top of that, I started to watch my eating: more smaller portion “meals” with lots of whole grain, veggies protein (after eating brown rice for so long, I can hardly go back to white rice). Oh, and plenty of water, too.
I feel really great these days and have never felt fitter. So, I decided to challenge myself. Why not try out the US Army’s Physical Fitness Test (APFT), I thought? My results:
Push-Ups
In 2 minutes, 80 reps. Score: 100
Sit-Ups
In 2 minutes, 60 reps. Score: 71 (This is something I can work on)
2 Mile Run
11 minutes and 40 seconds. Score: 100 (I collapsed onto the grass after this one , it’s quite the killer)
Well… looks like I pass 
(the “passing” score is 60 for each event).
22.Jun.08 Life Comments (2)
