Bartelby, the Scrivener
Herman Melville
I just feel awkward. Bartleby's whole being is several steps away from "normal" social interaction. He is so interesting, he resists passively and he denies the very basic requests that fall into routine. I couldn't help but wonder what is the big deal about performing such a minuscule task? It becomes more apparent, however, that there is something seriously wrong when the audience learns of his past. He had been a employee at a dead letter company. He would burn letters that cannot be received since the person the letter was sent to is now deceased for his daily work. Such a sad job could leave someone traumatized, or at least change someone so much so that they become distant, almost resistant to reality, or to routine tasks. " I might give alms to his body, but his body did not pain him; it was his soul that suffered, and his soul I could not reach,"(Melville, 658). It was obvious he was very much intrinsically troubled.
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