Bartleby Essays (1093 words) - English-language Films, Bartleby

Bartleby Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. ?Ah Bartleby, Ah Humanity.? (Page 140, Herman Melville) This is the key to Bartleby, written by Herman Melville, for it indicates that Bartleby stands as a symbol for humanity. This in turn functions as a commentary on society and the working world, for Bartleby is a seemingly homeless, mentally disturbed scrivener who gives up on the prospect of living life. However, by doing so Bartleby is attempting to exercise his freewill, for he would ?prefer not to? work. His relationship to the narrator is thus significant, for as he attempts to exercise his freewill he is breaking from the will of the narrator and the normal progression of life. However, this attempt to exercise his freewill and break loose from the confines of typical societal functions, isolates Bartleby from society, which in turn places him in a state of depression and soon there after, death. Ultimately, by having Bartleby ?prefer not to,? Melville is commenting on the role of humanity in the work force. If man attempts to break free of his role and exercise his own freewill then he is severing himself from humanity which in turn will lead to depression and perhaps death, for he will have nothing but a wall always obstructing him. From the beginning Bartleby is isolated within the confines of his work place. ?I procured a high green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though not remove him from my voice.?( pg 111) In this quotation the narrator put Arnold, Page 2 up a screen to separate his office from Bartleby's, which isolates him from the other members of the staff which thus isolates him from humanity. However, this is not the end of the isolation for he is not only detached from those around him, but society as well. ?I placed his desk close up to a small side window, a window that had originally afforded a view of certain grimy backyards, but which commanded at present, no view at all. Within three feet of the pains was a wall.? (pg 110-111) This quotation demonstrates Bartleby's total isolation from society, for even his window, usually a form of escape, traps Bartelby behind another wall, which thus reinforces absolute isolation. Ultimately, every aspect of Bartleby's life further expounds upon the motif of solitude. Bartalby's attempt to exercise his freewill eventually leads him into an even more alienated state as he estranges himself from his coworkers and his boss, the narrator. This resulted from a refusal to follow the orders of the narrator, for he refused to work or even communicate with him. His only response soon became ?I would prefer not to,? which shows his lack of involvement and in turn his decision not to interact in society, for he gave up what little life he still had. Ultimately, what he was doing, was preferring not to live, but instead just exist. Melville, is thus commenting on the work force by demonstrating through Bartleby's continual descend into the abysmal, society confines you behind walls and that if you give in and choose to stop living you will waste away as Bartleby did. Consequently, Bartleby after having alienated himself so fully was then left to his own devices. ?Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. I will change my offices; I will move elsewhere.? (pg 132-133) He was deserted completely, for he was no longer living. Arnold, Page 3 He continued to breathe, he continued to exist, but he was no longer of any use to society. As he severs himself from humanity, Bartleby is unaware of the consequences. However, these consequences as displayed by Melville, comment upon the impact that the work force can have upon mankind. Through Bartleby, he demonstrates that once you give up on life, everyone around will give up on you in turn, as the narrator did with Bartleby, for you have become an obstruction, much like the walls surrounding Bartleby. In the end, his self-will was what led him to death. For his decision to withdraw from society and further seclude himself led to the disintegration of his soul. He lost all desire to work, or

pumpkin essays

pumpkin essays It was the summer of 2002 before I had moved to Maine. The And1 Mixtape tour has just begun and was coming to downtown Atlanta for the weekend of June 14-16 Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Friday they would be going to places like the Lennox Mall or Mall of Georgia for autograph sessions and other fun activities. I wasnt even going to bother going their because of the millions and millions of people with hot sweaty breaths that were going to be crowded together to meet the And1 players. On Saturday they would have open runs which meant that anybody who thinks they can compete against the And1 players could showcase their talent but again I wasnt going to bother doing that either. I have skills but come on theirs lots of talented athletes who can dunk on you brutally and make you look like an idiot. On Sunday they would have a game where the and 1 players show off their skills and give the crowd a show worth their money. Im a huge fan of the NBA but street ball which And1 is tot ally different and more exuberant. Street Ball has circus type dunks and killer crossovers which sometime can break a person ankles because of the degree the move was performed in. I was definitely going to this tour because I have seen all the And 1 Mixtape videos from vol 1-3 and now that it was coming to my home town there was no way on gods green earth I was going to miss this. As soon as I went home I called up my best friend: Briiiiiiiiing brrrriiiing, brrrrrrrrrriiiing, Khalid: Yo son you wont believe who iz coming to the phillips arena Khalid: Hot sauce and the rest of the ankle breakin folks Al: Yo, foreal dont be playin like that Khalid: Yo Im serious put that on everything cuz Al: Da** , you know that sh** going to be of the hizzel fo Shizzel. Im definitely their , how much it be to get in Khalid: Sh** the open run is free, but to watch the game I think it be about 25 bucks Al: Sh** , Fu** that ...

Should the NHS treat patients with smoking related cancers Essay

Should the NHS treat patients with smoking related cancers - Essay Example By the late 1980s when the idea was first come under consideration, the NHS was suffering from a severe lack of resources. This was the result of three factors. Firstly, because of the policies of the government, which was cutting back on public expenditure. Secondly, because of the increasing numbers of elderly with their demands on the health services and thirdly, the increasing demand for higher standards of health. The situation was so bad that districts were not paying their bills, and operations were being cancelled. Waiting lists were increasing rapidly. As a result, a review of the NHS was announced. The Government Review produced a list of the strengths and weaknesses of the NHS, and suggested that one of the main problems lay in the lack of incentives for employees of the NHS to make savings and be more efficient. The government was strongly influenced by an economist, Enthoven, who argued that by introducing an internal market to the NHS, managers would be encouraged to become more efficient and without extra spending many of the NHS could be solved. He claimed, " there is nothing like a competitive market to motivate quality and economy of service "(Carrier, 1998, p.145). What Enthoven meant by the internal market, was that each hospital or community care unit would compete against others to win contracts to care for specified numbers of patients. This is similar to the situation faced by companies in the private sector of the economy, which compete against each other to win commercial contracts. For the treatment of smoking related cancers patients the idea of competition between hospitals and community care units was the basis for the NHS and Community Care Act of 1990. The NHS reforms, which came into effect in 1991, aimed to give patients, wherever they lived in Britain, better health care and greater choice of service. (Collee 1996, 1-7)Therefore the concept of the internal market was introduced, according to which, the 'providers' of healthcare were to be separated from the ' purchasers ' of healthcare. The idea was that by giving the purchasers the freedom to choose where to buy the best care, including the private sector, the system would place competitive pressure on the providers to offer greater quality, efficiency and value for money. Fundamental changes had to be made to the traditional relationship between the various parts of the NHS to make the new system work. Health authorities ceased to run the service directly and become purchasers of healthcare from a range of providers (hospitals, community services, ambulance services) who, in turn, were given the opportunity of becoming NHS Trusts. They were to be self- governing bodies with the freedom to decide things like staff numbers, rates of pay and what to charge for their services. Though independent of local health authority control, trusts remained part of the NHS. They had to provide a range of care accident and emergency services, but can choose which other services to concentrated on. A central role in the new system was reserved for family doctors who, for the first time, were offered budgets to buy a range of services for their own patients, such as non- emergency surgery,