Herman Melville :: essays research papers

Herman Melville created many geeks in his typography that had a mysterious personality to them. Melville himself had a bit of mystery in his own personal character and this gauge is shown by many characters such as Claggart and Bartleby. Besides having a mysterious side to him, this actor was stubborn. Even though his work wasnt always praised he remained determined and pretty much always wrote what he cute to write. This stubbornness was shown through his characters Captain Veere in wand Budd and Bartleby in the story "Bartleby the Scrivener." Melville was also passively resistant and he shows this through his characters Billy Budd and Bartleby. Herman Melville portrayed himself in his writing by giving personality traits to his literary characters that were similar to the ones he himself possessed.&9Melville had a strong desire to detect the complexities of human life, so mystery was often a trait of his characters. An standard of this would be his character Bart leby. Throughout the story, the reader has no clue what Bartleby is thinking, so Melville creates an air of mystery about this character. A nonher of Melvilles characters that show this quality is Claggart in the book Billy Budd. Claggart is constantly referred to as being mysterious, "a nut non to be cracked by the top of a ladies fan (Billy Budd). &9Besides being mysterious, Melville is stubborn and this comes out through his characters Captain Veere and Bartleby. Like most writers, Melvilles career had its ups and downs, and his work was not always praised. Even though readers didnt always appreciate his writing or writing zeal, he continued to write the books that he wanted to write. He quotes "What I feel most moved to write, that is banned- it will not pay, yet, altogether write the other way I cannot."(P. 8 Cliffs). The author shows his stubbornness through the character of Bartleby. To every request directed at him he replies, "Id prefer not to", which suggests the authors own obstinacy. other of Hermans characters that has a stubborn nature is captain Veere. He does not let his own feelings of those of the crew interfere with the strict facts of the case, which eventually resulted in Billys death. He remains stubborn with his decision and makes no exceptions in any case.&9Another personality trait Melville portrays in his writing is passive resistance. By Melville not changing his writing style to please society he is passively resisting.