Alienation Unit 3

Bartelby, the Scrivener
Herman Melville

In Bartelby, the Scrivener, Melville tells the story in an interesting way. Melville uses the literary technique of having a narrator in the story. I believe that the use of a narrator helps add meaning to the work because as a reader, I was able to get a better feel for what was actually happening in regard to the law firm. He begins by having the narrator, an old lawyer, speak of each of his scriveners before he speaks of Bartelby. I believe that narrator mentions each of the other scriveners before Bartelby because he soon indicates that each of the other scriveners were not as good as Bartelby. The other scriveners all had more downfalls in their personalities and way of work opposed to Bartelby. Bartelby's work is described almost as a robot by the narrator. "He ran a day and night line, copuing by sunlight and by candlelight. I should have been quite delighted with his application had he been cheerfully industrious. But he worte on silently, palely,mechanically"(Melville, 649). This sentence shows the narrator's first-hand view of Bartelby's work ethic. The fact that first-person narration is taking place allows for there to be one, distinct point of view being conveyed throughout the entire story.