In the first three paragraphs of
"Bartleby the Scrivener," Melville introduces a character who will be
played upon and defined throughout his text.
This introduction is crucial to the story and the fact that the lawyer
introduces himself greatly increases its effectiveness. The lawyer begins with the words, "I am
a rather elderly man." This first
"I" begins a long, autobiographical narrative in which the lawyer
reveals much of himself to the reader.
Because the story is centered on the lawyer's life, it is imperative
that the reader have this close view of him.
The repetitive "I" in these
paragraphs is important because it comes from the lawyer's thoughts of
himself. For this text to flow in it's
intended path, the reader must know a great deal about the lawyer and his
employees. In fact, it is these
characters which consummately defines the text.
Therefore, without the lawyer's rather unbashful introduction, the story
could not complete its task.
In this text, the author has chosen to
allow the character to introduce himself so that it may ease the transition to
the reader's acceptance of the lawyer's thoughts and opinions. Although the author could have simply related
facts about the lawyer, the reader is able to obtain much more from the
lawyer's first person point of view.
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