Character, setting and point of view in Bartleby the ScrivnerHerman Melville, who is today considered one of the greatest American writers, was "deprived of an optimistic vision of life after bankruptcy and the death of his father". (Thorp) Melville lived a very unhappy life and his writings did not become famous until after his death, "he is a strong-willed man who always said no to his friends and family, which means he is not very optimistic person." (Thorp) Through the character Bartleby, from his best-known story "Bartleby, the Scrivner" written in 1851, Melville expresses a lesson learned during his life and that is that isolation is like the death of the human spirit. This lesson is shown through the character, setting, and point of view of the story. The story opens with a lawyer preparing the story he is about to tell. This lawyer has an office on the second floor of a building on WallStreet in New York City where he employs two copyists named Turkey and Nippers. It also employs an employee named Ginger Nut. The lawyer specializes in real estate and financial matters for wealthy men. The office receives a lot more work during the summer, so the lawyer must post an ad for additional help. Bartleby responds to the ad. He is a "palely tidy, pitifully respectable, incurably desperate!" (Melville). Bartleby is placed in a corner of the lawyer's office separated by a screen, right next to a window with a view of the building next door. The building is only three feet from the window and the bricks are black with age. The light shines only from above, above the two buildings. He stands aside in the corner. Doesn't speak to... middle of paper... very good in this story for the characters and setting. Melville tries to convey that people do not have to isolate themselves and isolate themselves. They must communicate with others and participate in regular if not daily activities. Melville's point is that the ideal is that people should care for each other. Sometimes, however, no matter what assistance or support one may offer, their efforts are unable to provide the desired effect and the person who needs help is unable or unwilling to accept the charity of others nor to help herself. Melville wrote this story because he needed income and found it to be a simple story to develop from family experiences. Works Cited: Melville, Herman. "Bartleby the scribe." [1863]. Literature. 5th ed. Eds.James H. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1997.