Slavery and it's setting in North America

Slave Trade- Where African Americans were captured by white people in Africa to be sent to America
- Purpose of this trade was to expand southern economy
- Expand plantations as well
- First stop was from Africa to Britain
- Then to Americas
- The slaves were packed very tightly that many would get disease and die

Plantation Life

- Slaves worked for their masters all day for the rest of their life

- They had no right to own property
- The next generation of Africans became slaves
- People were not of the same tribes
- This was so no one could communicate with each other
- Provided safety to the owners that no rebellion would occur
- Many families feared and were separated the day after new years day

Abolition Movement
- Creation of the underground railroad

- This passage way enabled slaves to run away from the south to the north

- Major contributions to the civil war
- North made antislavery literature, agents, and petitions demanding that Congress end all federal support for slavery

-Protesters who used non violence such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and the book Uncle Tom's Cabin

Fugitive Slave Act/ Law

- This law prevented slaves from being completely free in the north
- If found they were to be sent back to the south to their owners
- This was a harsh law because if caught and returned you would get whipped or killed
- Part of the compromise of 1850
- where southern states had some northern states in control

Harriet Jacobs
- escaped from slavery
- became an abolitionist
- writer of the incidents in the life of a slave girl
- was born in Edenton, North Carolina 1813
- never knew she was a slave until her mother died
- When she moved with her grandmother her mistress taught her to read and sew

- she was a privileged slave who practically never had kids

-she had two kids to a white person in order for her owner not to rape her

source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2923.html

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimhUZiAyfj5vkG0f1lIezFiQ2WR6NIcf264F7p3eAB27RMaWm7xUlVFGMhuPha1m-OgKri_B-gClZlv3-n8_8f_i7SY3RG2eHjWpXSfMsRsL3esaHrlENFxYpXll8RZFocjm3JtRlKqw/s1600/map.slave.trade.jpg

http://abolition.e2bn.org/library/0711/0000/0066/plantation1a_360.jpg

http://fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us/~John_W_Farthing/S0FA3542A.15/Abolition%20Poster.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/fugitive%20slave%20law%20of%20harriet%20jacobs/MagstheCat/African%20American%20Literature/Harrietjacobsreward.jpg

http://webpage.pace.edu/kculkin/files/harrietjb.jpg

Your Questions, My Questions….

1. Why don't we know anything about Bartleby other than what we see of him in the story? Is that a weakness of the story?

We don't see much of Bartleby in this story because the story is being told by the lawyers point of view, this does not enable us to know more of Bartleby because he is so boxed in and does not give any information. With this we cant really tell if he is happy with how he is or what his objective is. However this is not a weakness to this story, on the contrary it strengthens it allowing readers to have their own interpretations of the story and makes the readers to continue reading.

2. Why doesn't the Boss just fire Bartleby?

One reason why I believe the boss does not fire Bartleby is because he has not yet found the reason of this behavior of Bartleby so he keeps him because he states he is good with people etc. However after failing that is when he decides to fire him and forget about him and his existence.

3. What does the Boss do for a living? What kind of company is he running?

The boss is a lawyer that earns his living by running a Scriveners office in wall street.

Symbol

What do the "dead walls" and Bartleby's "dead wall 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's first name? What's in a name?

The "dead walls" represent being trapped somewhere like an office. While the "dead wall reveries" may represent the effects the office cause to someone such as Bartleby in the dead letter place converted him into a monotonic individual. The significance of the setting is to show how work environment can affect who you are completely and either help you or make you so ambitious that you have no control of the limit anymore such as the boss who thinks of using Bartleby for only his interests. Turkey and Nippers have nicknames because they were only people who were assigned to work. Their names had no importance to the boss therefore nicknames were perfect just like in the time of the slave era slaves were not called by their name because they were not important and considered below the human race. I think the bosses name is not revealed because like in the time of slavery era the owners were called mistress, this is how the lawyers job worked he was the owner while his "servants" were Nippers and Turkey so in order to show respect his name was never revealed. I think the name of Bartleby was never mentioned because there was never a good amount of sufficient information to know his name. A name is semi description of who you are for example cuate in the Spanish language means friend, partner. It gives a short evaluation for you to be able to decided whether the person is worth being with or not.

Ambiguity

Exactly why does Bartleby always "prefer not to"? Why can't he make friends, or communicate? What's 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 in his past job he would have no one to hear from, all he would do would be destroy the mail that was never received. Therefore he would not communicate and his past job "sucked" his emotions out due to all the things that people would not receive. Bartleby's previous job had completely isolated himself from the community and society converting him into a monotonic person who did not wish to do anything but to be alone in a stable place. One reason why Bartleby does not quit and get a different job is because he does not seek to have a new job and he states there is too much confinement. “There is too much confinement about that. No, I would not like a clerkship; but I am not particular.” I believe the lawyer has sympathy over Bartleby because does not have sufficient information about Bartleby to judge him and also because he wanted to find the source of why Bartleby would act this way. What jumps to me and is open to individuals interpretation is that if he would not communicate or not make friends how did he manage to get a girl in his office? As well how did he communicate to her surely he did not tell her I prefer not to because he asked the lawyer to come back to his office later.

Paradox

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

The readers and the narrator have sympathy for him because he seems like an ill person that doesn't know what to do anymore. It may also seem the Bartleby may have some mental issues and people with mental issues are usually helped a lot more no matter how annoying they are. Another reason is the saying " don't judge a book by its cover." It was too soon to judge Bartleby given the fact that we did not know the reason why he would not conform to help our like the other employee's. This also may apply for the boss because he did not know the reason and he kept asking throughout the story why he wouldn't listen.

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 think of other ironies?

Another irony in this story is how when Turkey is at his best in the morning Nippers is at his worst, and then in the afternoon Nippers is at his best while Turkey is at his worst. This is very good for the lawyer so no arguing or disputing can occur because they are both tired in different shifts.

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! Don't expect your occupation to bear the burden of your existence.
What other ideas does the story suggest to you?

The denouement of this story was a great ending tying everything together and giving some sort of explination why Bartleby's was in such way. It also made me think that it was wrong of the lawyer to give up on Bartleby, but then again this also made me think that this would never occur in society due to the fact that no owner would want to keep an employee who does no work and all he or she says is "I would prefer not to." What I make out of this is that due to the past job the Bartleby worked in I can infer that his emotions were "sucked" out of him leaving him with no cheerfulness. It made me also think that some parts of this story would be real life situations in society while others would completely not for example when the lawyer said Bartleby needed to leave and he didn't , if it were in society Bartleby would have gotten kicked out by force. Some real life situation of the story was when he was sent to jail for being a vagrant. Some ideas the story suggests is that what job you have is what defines you and how you transmit it to others, for example Bartleby came from the dead letter job and his behavior was full of negativity and non cooperation. This story also suggests that even if you have defined who you are there is always something that can change you. This occured with the lawyer and his ideas; At first he planned on using Bartleby for his on need and that was it but as time elapsed he changed and cared to know where he came from and why he would not conform to orders he would appoint to him.

Plot Exposition

what background information does the narrator relate that gives us a greater understanding of the events unfolding? Why does the information about Bartleby's 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 events reach their pinnacle? Where is the conflict most intense, the clash most "explosive"?
Resolution-What's the outcome of the explosion? 
Epiphany-who has gained insight in this story, Bartleby or the Boss, or anybody?

Some information the narrator displays in order for us to have a greater understanding of the events that are unfolding are where he states in the beginning of the story where he explains to us that this story is from his past experiences. This is proven with the very first line of the story stating, " I am a rather elderly man." As mentioned in blogs before he also explains how Bartleby is unable to be characterized perfectly, " Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man." A reason why I think Bartelby's past job was announced towards the ending was so the reader could be captivated by the responses Bartleby made. It is also a great closer to the story, it explains why his behavior was in such manner and as well the story is being told by steps of the lawyer so that was the last thing he knew about Bartleby. The reaction of the lawyer to Bartelby's protest on doing work is normal for a person in society. The lawyer gets agitated because he orders him to read over the papers with the rest and Bartleby refuses and then he explains he will no longer write. This causes the lawyer reaction to intensify but at the same time his curiosity grows in attempt to figure out why Bartelby act in such manner. The dilemma in this story is that ever since Bartleby decided not to help correct the papers it was questionable whether his permanence in the office would remain. The moment where the story reaches the climax to me is when Bartelby is fired and the lawyer places Bartleby's check on the table and asks him to leave the key under the door. I believe this is the turning point because that is the last straw and from here the lawyer wants to get rid of Bartleby for good so he switches offices in hope that he will never have to deal with him again. To conclude this story the lawyer goes back to the office in attempt to take Bartleby out of the office and when he fails, Bartleby is sent to jail for being a vagrant. The person who gained the most out of this I believe was the boss because his way of being toward his employer changed and in the beginning the description said he was good with dealing with situations, so this was a test for him and helped him become even better than he was.

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's perspective? Why not Bartleby's perspective? Why not one of the other clerks?

The story is being interpreted through the lawyers eyes. As the story keeps going we see that he indeed likes to take the easy way. One example of this was when the boss had enough of Bartleby and decided to move without taking him and leaving him in the office. This shows that since the lawyer cannot handle the strange behaviors of Bartleby he decides to finally quit leave him his check of money and migrate to a new place. What is gained from us hearing the story from the boss's point of view is that we are able to examine all the tension and emotions that each character hold within. We are able to interpret ideas and thoughts such as the lawyers change in attitude toward Bartleby. Using the boss's perspective also allowed the story to experience and witness if he truly is a prudent man and has learned patience by working with others. We also witness that the lawyers ego disappears of him desiring just to use his employees to his benefit and through this person we obtain access for us to get close to Bartleby. One reason why I believe using Bartleby's perspective would not have beenl the best selection was because even though he was a major character in this story his ideas were not open for the reader to see. Aside from that what I can infer from how Bartleby was he did not have much emotions after his work career at the dead letter office. His demonstration of character was also not exposed till about the end of the passage and did not have much dialogue throughout the story except "I prefer not to." Overall the usage of Bartleby's point of view for this story would result in a monotonic story with no excitement to continue on reading because of the repetition that Bartleby makes; also because we would not know how anyone thought since Bartleby isolated himself from everyone except when he brought to his office a woman. The other clerks would not be ideal people to view perspectives from is because these people do not manage to be at their best the whole day instead Turkey is energetic at day and towards the afternoon he gradually falls while Nippers is the exact opposite.

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?

In this amusing short story we can clearly see that the boss is not up against a "normal" individual that conforms to rules at work. The boss ecounters a person with a monotone personality due to the job he was enrolled in before arriving to the bosses job. In my opinion Bartleby does represent more than himself because it appears that he has incorporated all the mail that was not recieved, thus all the negativity has affected him to have less feelings and use a line that attracts and irritates some readers, he prefers not to. A major character of this short story was the narrator, the boss, because we are spectators of this story through his eyes. The boss in contrasts to Bartleby demonstrates many emotions such as comprehension, acceptance, pity and anger. The narrator is a lawyer that is about sixty years old with an excellent mind for doing business. I believe this character is likeable because this chracter seems relaistic and resembles a normal person in society as shown where he hires Bartleby for his interests and has patience for him, however as we then see his shift in emotions demonstrating he represents society. Surely he is a dynamic and round character that demonstrates his change. His compassion towards his employees in particular Bartleby changes from using Bartleby as a utility to developing to a caring person attempting to learn what makes Bartleby act in such manner. The other major character in this story was Bartleby. This person was the character whom the author decided to write about stating how tough of a character he is to describe. "Bartleby was one of those beings whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small." What we discover about him is that he used to work where all the mail that was not recieved landed. With this we can infer that this is where he learned to be how he is now after observing so much pain and abandonment causing Bartleby's emotions to be sucked out of him. To some people this character is annoying but in my opinion this character was very entertaining to understand. I believe this because of the choice of words he chosses to reply with such as "I prefer not to" these lines stun the readers because they are not expected line keeping the reader attracted to keep on reading. Although an excellent copywriter I find him very entertaining because he does not comply with the "laws" of society at work which are usually, obey what the boss orders you to do. This character seems sympathetic because in society this paitience and understanding would not happen. Bartleby would have been kicked out of the office regardless his great ability of work because he did not comply. Bartleby is also a static and flat character that does not change since the moment he steps foot into the office. His monotonic actions terminated when he died in prison. The minor/ major characters are Nippers and Turkery because they have some opinions but are not very active in this story. We know that Turkey is about the same age as his boss and Nippers is young; what makes them such an effective team is that Turkey works at his best during the morning and after lunch he begins to fall while Nippers works at his best in the afternoon. These characters seem likeable because their combination of work balances each other out. However in my opinion, examining them I don't see them as likeable characters because they resemble "ordinary" workers that follow the rules and never argue against them like Bartleby.