Bartleby The Scrivener Rhetorical Analysis Essay

In Herman Melville’s work, “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” the narrator feels different emotions towards his employee Bartleby throughout the work. These feelings towards Bartleby especially change when he discovers that Bartleby has been living in the office. The character Bartleby remains a mystery throughout the entire work. His true identity is unknown; nothing is really known about him at all. Although the narrator does not really know Bartleby, he cannot help but pity him. The narrator shows the readers his emotions concerning Bartleby though his tone and diction. The narrator’s point of view is also important because he is unique in his thoughts about Bartleby. In Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” the narrator uses tone, diction, and point of view to reveal to the reader his evolution of emotions concerning Bartleby. At the beginning of the piece the narrator is confused and shocked by Bartleby’s …show more content…
At the beginning the tone is confused and outraged. This tone creates a veil over Bartleby and using words like “stumble” the narrator conveys an out of hand situation. This confusion is prevalent in the tone throughout the piece, but it also focuses on pity as it progresses. The narrator diction through the whole of the piece helps create a tone of melancholy pity, but at the end to tone is replaced by a deeper emotion than pity. Near the end of the piece the narrator is so confused and exasperated with Bartleby that he is desperate to get rid of him. The tone becomes desperate and he says that he is “repulsed” by the scrivener. In the end the tone is pushed even farther. It becomes one of despair and hopelessness when the narrator realizes that he can’t help Bartleby. Bartleby suffers from a condition of the soul and not the body. The story closes with a feeling of desperate grief as the narrator laments over