Bartleby Questions

Why dont we know anything about Bartleby other than what we see of him in the story? is that weakness of the story? why doesn't the Boss just fir Bartleby? What does the boss do for a living? What kind of company is he running?

We do not know anything about Bartleby other than what we see in the story because he is a character that's "dead" and keeps things to himself, he's VERY antisocial. The author wanted to portray Bartleby as a strange mysterious character to make us the readers "hooked" to know more of the story. If Bartelby told more about his story and was more like the other three workers then the story would be weak the story would be boring, vauge and flat. The Boss doesn't fire Bartleby because he feel sympathy for him and it's more of an avantage that he didn't kick Bartleby out of the story. The boss is a scrivener who copies legal document for people, he runs a scrivener office.

Symbol

What do the "dead walls" and Bartleby's " dead walls reveries" represent? what's the significance of the setting why is it a story of " Wall street" ? why do turkey and Nipper have nicknames , but the Boss is never named , and we never learn Bartleby first name? what's in a name?

• The "dead walls" and Bartleby's " dead walls reveries represent that Bartleby is dead inside because of his passed job working in the deadmail room at the post office, he is inside the walls of sadness that make him feel as if he was a ghost. The setting of "wall street" is significant because int he beginning wall street began by trading slaves, Bartelby probably felt like a slave working in wall street he is expected to do whatever the boss tells him to do just like when the "bosses" were masters and the workers were the "slaves." Turkey and Nippers have nick names because they aren't really important to the story they were just like workers who really did anything their boss told them to do and they get so frustrated that they had to do things and Bartleby didn't, Turkey and Nippers are like dummy nick names. The boss's name is never mentioned maybe because of guilt. Bartleby's first name is never mention either this is because the author is trying to disguise something, like their is identity and life background.
  

Ambiguity

Exactly why does Bartleby always "prefer not to"/ Why cant he make friend ,or communicate? Whats at the heart of his rebellion? Why doesn't he quit and get a different job? Why does the Boss have sympathy for Bartleby? what else in the story seems open to individual readers 'interpretation?

Bartleby always " prefers not to" because he is tired of everything he has been around so much sadness that it makes him feel dead inside, he probably felt this way because he worked for dead mail in the post office. Bartleby can't make friends or communicate because in a way he is already dead inside and he doesn't really have feelings, he is so tired of life that he isn't interested in getting to know anyone or being recognized. Bartleby rebels because he is tired of depression and cruelty, he is tired of the routine of his job. Bartleby doesn't quit to find another job because he doesn't want to try anything new he's used to the same thing all the time, he just wants to give up everything. The Boss has sympathy for Bartleby because he realizes the sadness of Bartleby, he sees how lonely and how disappointing Bartleby's life is or was after he died.

Paradox

Bartleby is stubborn, self -absorbed , rebellious , and insubordiante , yet many reader and even narrator, the Boss himself , have a deep sympathy for him . Why ? Others?

Bartleby is stubborn, self-absorbed, rebellious, and insubordiante, yet many reader and even narrator, the Boss himself , have a deep sympathy for him because he is a lonely anti social man, he doesn't even eat and he does not like to hang out, all he does is work even though when the boss tells him to do somthing he "prefers not to", Bartleby is almost like a ghost or robot, that was my thoughts while reading the story in class.

Irony

The boss doesn't recognize that his own passiveness is as persistent and frustrating as Bartleby's . Or that his genteel , self- interested interest in Bartleby is leading to no good . Can you thin or other ironies?

Irony- sarcasm

• The boss doesn't recognize that his own passiveness is as persistent and frustrating as Bartleby's . Or that his genteel , self- interested interest in Bartleby is leading to no good . Another irony can probably be that when Nipper is on duty and Turkey is off this is beneficial to the boss so that way he wont have them both at the same time, mean while dealing wiht Bartleby.

Plot

Exposition - what back ground information does the narrator relates that give us a greater understanding of the event unfolding ? why does the information about Bartleby previous employment come at the end of the story rather than at the beginning? Complication- how does the Boss react when Bartleby repeatedly refuses to perform his duties? how does his reaction intensify what is the Boss's dilemma? Climax- where do you feel the event reach their pinnacle ? where is the conflict most intense, the clash most " explosive "? Resolution- whats the outcome of the explosion? Epiphany- Who has gained insight in this story , Bartleby or the boss or anybody?

The background information the narrator relates that gives us a greater understanding of the event unfolding is when the boss talks about the interview with Bartleby and he said what he though of him , then when Bartleby starts to refuse to do his duties. The information about Bartleby comes at the end of the story rather than the beginning because the author wants the reader to guess what is going to happen next instead of already knowing what happens. When Bartleby refuses to do his duties the boss gets patient, he gives Bartleby many chances to not do what he is told, the boss reactions starts to intensify when he notices that Bartleby is taking space, and not working at all, one idea was to move to another office because since he couldn't force Bartleby out of his office. The Boss's issue is either to fire Bartleby, move out, help Bartleby out or hurt him . In my opinion the event that reached the pinnacle was when Bartleby started to live in the office and the boss found him in there with daily substances but Bartleby didn't let him in and that's why the boss decided to move the office. another pinnacle event is when people started to complain about Bartleby to the boss, like Nippers, Turkey and Ginger nut, they places a threat. The most explosive clash is when the boss becomes highly upset with Bartleby because he kept refusing to do anything and the outcome is that the Boss decides to move. The boss changed and I think that's good for him after he found out more about Bartleby.

Meaning- THEME

Does the story leave you thinking anything ? feeling anything? what do you make out of it all? passive , aggressive people are difficult to accommodate, difficult to ignore. Passive resistance is a radical form of rebellion. Offices , where americans spend the greater part of their lives , are not democracies . have a life outside work! dont expect your occupation to bear the burden of your existence. what other ideas does the story suggest to you?

The story of Bartleby made me feel a sad in the ending and it also made me think about how selfish people and also how tough some people have it, because Bartleby died and how sad his life was, he was like a depressed robot. Another thought I had was how it was probably destiny for Bartleby to appear into the boss's life so that a change could develop in the boss's way of thinking about life and other people. I agree with the sentences, "Aggressive people are difficult to accommodate, difficult to ignore" "Passive resistance is a radical form of rebellion" because for example Bartleby was a so passiv and calm and only said thing he would say is " I prefer not to" when he was asked to do a task. Turkey and Nippers were aggressive they got annoyed by Bartleby quickly and wanted to attack him, they didn't accommodate to anything not even the fact that Bartleby didn't leave the office so they would never see him. "Offices , where americans spend the greater part of their lives , are not democracies." I don't agree with this because people should have a life outside work, you shouldn't expect your occupation to bear the burden of your existence, this was what Bartleby did he didn't really have a life, except how he had a lady in the office with him one night, all Bartleby was work also the boss, in the story there was no sign that the boss had a life outside of the office or even had a family.

Point Of View

who tells the story? -the first person narrator , who is flawed but human ... he's reliable , we trust him. His actions definitely support what he tells us about himself ; especially the part about being a man who likes to take the "easy" way . what else is gained by telling this story from the boss perspective? why not one of the other clerks.

The person telling the story is the boss. The boss is the first person narrator , he is flawed but human, he is reliable and we do trust him.His actions do support what he tells us about himself, especially the part about being a man who likes to take the "easy" way, because he doesn't aspire anything. The story is told in the Boss perspective to show the reader that he is a man who only cared about himself and Bartleby changed him, also so the story could be more interesting much more dynamic and set every point the author is making through the story. The story is not told by any of the other clerk because if it was told by Nippers, Turkey or Ginger nut then Bartleby would just be criticized, the story would probably go off topic and their personalities wouldn't be as funny, things would just be vague. Nipper, turkey and Ginger nut are there characters to make the story more entertaining and also for us readers to know some more opinions about the Bartleby situation. Without them we wouldn't have realized the bosses change.

Harriet Jacobs

• Harriet Ann Jacobs was born in 1813, she was born in North Carolina , Edenton.
• It was not Harriet Jacob's nature to give up without a fight. Born into slavery, Harriet Jacobs would thwart repeated sexual advancements made by her master for years, then run away to the North.
• Harriet's mother, Delilah, was the slave of John Horniblow, a tavern-keeper, and her father, Daniel Jacobs, a white slave owned by Dr. Andrew Knox. Delilah died when Harriet was six years old and was brought up by her grandmother.
• Her father- was the son of a white man - named Henry Jacob.
• after this she found out that she was a slave, she moved with her grandmother Molly
• Her grandmother's mistress taught Harriet how to read and sew, she learn about Christianity through the mistress and her grandmother.
• Harriet Jacobs wrote herself Incidents in the life of a slave girl which was published in 1861 under another name.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Sjacobs.htm / http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/jaco-har.htm

Slave Trade

• weapons , goods,captured slaves
• Most slaves were from Africa
• Hundreds of slaves were put in a ship with barely any space to breath
• Slaves were sold like items in a market
• there was violence all over the ship
  
• slaves were punished if they didn't want to eat - they were hanged upside down
• some slaves were thrown off the ship with cannon balls chained to their feet.
• many slaves died because of hunger and cruelty , many were murdered to set an example to other slaves so they wouldn't rebel.

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h603.html / my own knowledge.

Fugitive Slave Act/ Law

• this law was pass to protect the properties of the Masters
• This law was passed on 1793
• if the North say any slaves they had to be "good citizen" and report it to the south , or hold it for the owner.
• heavy penalties were imposed upon anyone who helps a slaves
• The law stated that in future any federal marshal who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave could be fined $1,000. People suspected of being a runaway slave could be arrested without warrant and turned over to a claimant on nothing more than his sworn testimony of ownership. A suspected black slave could not ask for a jury trial nor testify on his or her behalf.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASfugitive.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0819828.html

Abolition Movement

• From the 1830s until 1870, the abolitionist movement attempted to achieve immediate emancipation of all slaves and the ending of racial segregation and discrimination.
• both white and black Abolitionist fought against slavery during the 9th century.
• The Abolition movement happened in the 1800's to end slavery.
• The majority of abolitionists activity happened in the United States and Great Britain, but it also happened in other countries as well.
• Antislavery began in the colonial days in the United States.
• Abolitionist : William Lloyd Garrison,Sojourner Truth,Harriet Tubman,Frederick Douglass,Henry "Box" Brown,Harriet Beecher Stowe.

http://afgen.com/abmovement.html / http://www.mce.k12tn.net/civil_war/abolitionists.htm

Plantation life

• Slaves worked for long hours endlessly clearing the land, plowing fields, raising livestock, making buildings, and planting crops to transform the landscapes into luxurious plantations.
• Labor was intense and if you didn't work fast or the master saw you resting you would get whipped or punish .
• Slaves usually received cornmeal salt herrings, and eight pounds of pork or fish each month for food.
• Women would most their work in the house cleaning , washing ,mending. Female slaves and young children usually served as domestics, tending to the master's family as cooks, servants, and housemaids, and were often starved, whipped, and even raped.
• slaves slept on the floor with just a "coarse" blanket
• Man would usually attend the fields, garden and Horses
• Music and religion is what gave slaves a reason to live and it gave them strength
• slaves believed in Christianity
• slaves lived in bad conditions but they had gone through so much that their bodies and minds were strong.

http://americanabolitionist.liberalarts.iupui.edu/plantation_life.htm

Questions For Bartleby (Character)

Characters
Protagonist / Antagonist? - what is the Boss up against in the person of Bartleby?
Does Bartleby represent a force beyond himself as an individual?
Major / Minor (Who are the major players in the story? What do we know about them? Are they likable? Sympathetic? Realistic? What's the function of the story's minor characters?)
Dynamic / Static-Who changes? Who stays the same? Is the story about growth or change?
Round / Flat-Who is the round character? Who are the flat characters?

The protagonist of "Bartleby the scrivener: a story of Wall- street" was Bartleby and the antogonist was The owner of the office, and the 3 other clerks .The Boss hates how Bartleby always tells him"I perfer not to", how weird Bartleby was, and the fact that he did not talk , eat or leave the office, he was like a robot. Bartleby repersented a force beyond himself as an individual by refusing everything , keeping things to himself, for example being independent no one knew about him, all the boss knew was that he was a good writer and a very anti social person, Bartleby ignoring his boss changed his ways of acting. The major characters were the boss and Bartleby and the minor characters were Nipper, Turkey and Ginger nut. From my opinion Nipper is very weird man , he does not know what he wants in life and he is between evil power Ambition and indigestion . Turkey was a short English man, in the morning he was quiet but after his lunch time which was at 12 o'clock he became very happy and energetic,he was eccentric and he was not careful he made blots of ink all over papers, he was also old of age. Ginger nut was the a 12 year old boy, he was a tech cleaner, sweaper the son of a carman. Ginger nut had a small desk that he wouldn't use, and he always brought small flat cakes for Nippers and Turkey. The boss owns an office in #10 Wallstreet, he was an old man, he was never a challenging lawyer, for example he wasn't a goal aspiring person. Bartleby is the one person who is not likable, he doesn't satisfy everyone. The functions of the minor characters which are Nipper , Turkey and Ginger nut was to show what the boss had to go through everyday, make the story dynamic and also to show who The boss really was, so the reader could tell if he was selfish, which he was. Nipper , Turkey and Giner nut, and Bartleby are the characters that do not change. As a result the character that does change is The Boss, he becomes an unselfish man and a caring man,he began to see life in a different way. The boss separated Bartleby from humanity, he started to think that we humans are all equal no matter how different everyone is and when Bartleby died he felt horrible. This story is about Change, because Bartleby changed the boss into being a better person , unlike how he the boss was in the beginning of the story. The round characters in this story are Bartleby and the boss, nipper and Turkey. The flat characters are Ginger nut, Bartleby sometimes..