from Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" this particular line stood out the most to me. In the
context of the story, the narrator finds himself often times struggling internally with his temper,
especially towards those who maintain a positive and upbeat attitude during times of stress and/or
frustration, i,e. Bartleby. The narrator even admits that Bartleby "means no mischief" or "insolence"
and this bothers the narrator greatly. To not get a reaction out of someone when anticipating one will
more often then not further irritate someone even more. This is proven true not only in the excerpt from
Melville's writings but, also in real life. The narrator continues by telling the reader that Bartleby is very
useful to him and easy to get along with, however this doesn't stop him from continuing to push
Bartleby until he reaches a melting point. "But one afternoon the evil impulse in me mastered me" (53).
In relation to real life, it is safe to say that we have all be in a situation where we have been "killed
with kindness" and this tends to amplify our original level of anger. Has humans, we are a needy
species. We need food, water, shelter, ext. These are examples of necessities. But, if you take a moment
to think about the things we often say we "need" they are actually "wants." The list would look as
such; We "need/want" attention, some reactions from time to times, but most importantly
attention. When we get fired up for whatever reason, we want everyone to know we are deeply
troubled by an issue or situation so we broadcast it. Once we have let those around us know that we
have a problem that we are facing, we typically expect some sort of reply or reaction. If that reply or
reaction is not one of which we were hoping for then we find ourselves more upset and angered then
we had originally been. The narrator finds himself in this very predicament at times but in one particular
scenario he lets his temper get the best of him and Bartleby has to face the narrator as he finally reaches
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herman_Melville.jpg: By Joseph O. Eaton and an unknown etcher (Library of Congress) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
