Bartleby (Pgs. 30 to 44)

Summary:

In this last portion of my reading the lawyer had been assuming that Bartleby was going to leave, however, his main concern was whether he would have left because he wanted to or not. The lawyer walks around Downtown and overhears people betting on whether someone is "gone" or not, and the lawyer thinking about Bartleby bet that he was gone. He had over-thought that it was election day and the people were discussing canditates' successes in campaigns. He decides to go back to his office to check and see if Bartleby was indeed still there, or if his chair would still be empty. Not surprisingly enough, when he looked for the office door key under the mat, it wasn't there. He hit his knee against a panel and from inside he heard a voice say "not yet." It was Bartleby, he was till in there. The lawyer proceeds by going in and telling Bartleby how disappointing he was and how a hint of his presence would have sufficed.

Quote:

"“Will you, or will you not, quit me?” I now demanded
in a sudden passion, advancing close to him.
“I would prefer not to quit you,” he replied, gently
emphasizing the not.
“What earthly right have you to stay here? Do
you pay any rent? Do you pay my taxes? Or is this
property yours?”
He answered nothing.
“Are you ready to go on and write now? Are your
eyes recovered? Could you copy a small paper for
me this morning? or help examine a few lines? or
step round to the Post Office? In a word, will you
do anything at all to give a coloring to your refusal
to depart the premises?”
He silently retired into his hermitage" (Melville 32).

Reaction:

I chose this excerpt because it exercises the main theme of the novella Bartleby, the Scrivener. The lawyer seems to step up his authority when he "demands" answers from Bartleby. This change in character does nothing to Bartleby's 'preferences'. For example, when the lawyer wasn't being so aggressive in the earlier instances when Bartleby was refusing to do what he was told. This only goes to show that Bartleby is persistent in staying adamant about disobeying the lawyer.

Bartleby, the Scrivener (Pgs. 15 to 29)

Summary:

In this part of my reading we see an interesting twist to Bartleby. One day the lawyer had a document that he needed looking over. He calls Bartleby to do the task but he says that he'd rather not. This shocked the lawyer as he wanted everything he requested to be done instantly. It was also amazing how the lawyer did not bother admonishing Bartleby's "unusual and unjust" behavior. Rather, he asked for Turkey and Nipper's opinions. Nipper replied that the decision was solely up to him and that Bartleby's behavior was unusual and unjust. Turkey was ready to confront Bartleby but the lawyer stopped him. Why is the lawyer reluctant to berate Bartleby? This incident repeats itself later on. Bartleby had copied a large document which now needed revising. When the lawyer asked Bartleby for help and he refused. The Lawyer therefore had to get his other three employees to work on the document, and they were outraged. They would not be inclined to revise another man's document without pay again. Bartleby even refused to get Turkey and Nipper.


Quote:

“Bartleby,” said I, “when those papers are all copied,
I will compare them with you.”
“I would prefer not to.”
“How? Surely you do not mean to persist in that
mulish vagary?” (Melville 17).

Reaction:

This quote takes place when the lawyer needs to compare with Bartleby's documents, but Bartleby refuses. This part was interesting because it was unusual for Bartleby to not comply. Bartleby keep refusing to do what the Lawyer commands him to do. Two instances we see of this is when he declines to help in looking over a large document he copied, and when he refused to get the other employees. The quote also struck me with interest  because it has some of the vocabulary that we've had this year. A vagary is an unexpected and inexplicable notion in someone or something.

Bartleby, the Scrivener (Pgs.1 to 14)

Summary:

In the exposition of Bartleby, the Scrivener, we find out that the narrator considers himself to be rather old. This narrator is actually the author, Herman Melville, and he is explaining how he thinks that Bartleby's life was so remarkable that he devoted writing a biography of him. Melville says, however, that it would be impossible to write out a thorough biography of this man. The narrator is an employer, a Master of Chancery. He wasn't in accord with the title, and the title was not favored by the Constitution, however, this is what he was. He had an office, or chambers as he called them on Wall Street, where he initially employed 2 copyists (scriveners) and an office boy. Bartleby showed up on the narrator's door, in response to an advertisement seeking scriveners.

Quote:

"Nevertheless, as he was in many ways a most valuable person to me, and all the time before twelve o’clock, meridian, was the quickest, steadiest creature, too, accomplishing a great deal of work in a style not easily to be matched — for these reasons I was willing to overlook his eccentricities, though indeed, occasionally, I remonstrated with him" (Melville 6).

Reaction:

So there is a lot in this quote, however, the narrator is describing Turkey's personaly at length. Turkey was one of his workers, and he said the he was almost his age, not too far from 60. Turkey is a short Englishman. The narator contrats how his face looks given different times of the day, such as it look a flourid hue in the morning, whereas it's brighter in the afternoon. The narrator describes Turkey as being very energetic and clumsy, spilling pen ink all over papers, and would be noisy at other times. However, the quote does explain that Turkey gets his work done and is much valued by the narrator because he does not think he is better than anyone else. Ultimately, what is to "remonstrate"?

The Devil in The White City (Pgs. 286 to 388)

Summary:

As The Devil in the White City came to a closing, Holmes took Minnie and Anna to the fireworks display and they were delighted. Holmes also proposed a new plan for Anna to study art, and then they would soon leave, travel east and ultimately end up in Europe. There was a lot of worrying and anticipation that the 200,000 people expected to be at the Exposition would drop drastically. One day Anna and Holmes went to the hotel and he showed her around to some stores and restaurants on the first floor. He also took her to the top floor to show her the view. He later took her to his office and carried on with his plan; he told her to go into the vault for a document that he had forgotten and really needed. He slowly followed behind her and closed the door. Anna was flabbergasted. In the vault it was utterly dark and the air had started to become thicker and warmer. Holmes had the ability to do many things to Anna while she was in there. For instance, he could have opened the door and looked in on her with a smile to show her that it was no accident, or he could have just flooded the vault with gas right then and there. It’s a bit ambiguous but I think he just left her in there to suffocate as he listed to her through some gas pipes. He later went to see Minnie, held her, kissed her, and told her that Anna was waiting for them at the castle.

Quote:

“The true climax occurred after the grounds closed, however. In the silence, with the air still scented with exploded powder, collectors accompanied by armed guards went to each ticket booth and collected the accumulated silver, three tons of it” (Larson 319).

Reaction:

Prior to this quote, it was ten in the morning on Monday, October 9, 1893; it was Chicago day! Ticket takers at the fair's Sixty-fourth Street gate had counted about 60,000 admission only from that gate thus far. That gate had usually accounted for about one-fifth of attendances on any ordinary of the fair. They then estimated that the total number of admissions would be well near 300,000, which was pretty close to Paris' exposition of 397,000 admissions. Ticket-takers were starting to anticipate that something unusual was happening. The rate at which tickets were selling was multiplying. Silver coins had to start being stacked everywhere. It's funny because while Gale Ferris was riding his wheel (how ironic), he was able to look down upon the crowd, and claimed, "there must be a million people down there"(Larson 319). He had nearly gotten it right. The Paris record had been shattered by Chicago's astounding 751,026 attendances; more people than had attended any single day of any peaceable event in history.

The Devil in the White City (Pgs. 185 to 285)

Summary:

In this portion of my reading, the Pittsburgh engineer perseveres in resubmitting his Eiffel-tower like structure. He is given the concession to build the design and the engineer who is awarded this task is George Washington Gale Ferris. Meanwhile, Emeline and Holmes’ relationship seems to be changing. She had disappeared after having produced a wedding announcement and nobody knew why nor expected her to have left without saying a goodbye. Harry Codman had also been in the hospital and meanwhile everyone thought that he was recovering, in fact he did not and died shortly after his appendectomy. Holmes was becoming really successful; he owned a legitimate company in part, and a mail-order company. He had a building for which he had tenants pay him rent and he also owned two houses. There were people on the verge of accusing him of Emeline’s murder. A big problem that Holmes noticed was that his job required a secretary.

Quote:

“Olmsted, in Brookline, got the news by telegram: Harry Codman was dead. Codman, his protégé, whom he loved like a son” (Larson 194).

Reaction:

I thought that this was very unfortunate; Harry Codman was only at the very young age of 29. He had been in the hospital for a while and everyone was expecting him to be recovering. He did not; and died shortly thereafter. It’s interesting how Codman dies and also Emeline disappears. This in-fact does foreshadow for the dangers that have yet to come for Holmes in the near future. What also got my attention from this quote was the method of communication. They used telegrams and we have just finished studying how communication got revolutionized in the mid 19^th century! Telegrams were electronic signals that transmitted Morse code. This kind of communication was vital for people like Burnham and Holmes at the time. Of course, telegrams evolved into the telephone and then things such as the typewriter also emerged.

Devil in the White City (Pgs. 123 to 184)

Summary:

In this portion of my reading Gertrude wishes that she had never come to Chicago, she claims that it is a cruel and dark place. With Gertrude gone, tension between Ned and Julia increased. They almost came close to separating. Ned admired Holmes because he was so successful at under 30 years of age. Holmes proposed to sell Ned the Pharmacy in very generous terms, such that Ned's salary would be increased to make it possible for him to pay it. Meanwhile, the Tribune held competitions that brought forth many proposals for the fair.One of the proposals was a tower. This idea was quickly dismissed by Burnham because he believed that Eiffel had done it first and best. Burnham was very centered around threats that could be brought to the fair. He was especially concerned with crimes and fire.Ultimately, Burnham had come up with an idea of his own—he would create a large police force.


Quote:

"Unlike conventional police departments, the Guard's mandate explicitly emphasized the novel idea of preventing crime rather than merely arresting wrongdoers after the fact"(Larson 138).

Reaction:

When I read this sentence I just felt like it was so well composed. I had to look up the word 'mandate' which means something that is assigned to be done. Ultimately, I was able to connect this sentence to the Science-Fictional movie Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise. I'm not entirely sure what Burnham is talking about preventing. However, Minority Report is a movie which takes place in the future in the 2050s and Police officers can see a crime before they happen. In this movie, people will find themselves constantly running. The system by which they are preventing crimes is conceived to be flawless—until it went after them!

The Devil in the White City (Pgs. 75 to 122)

Summary: In this portion of my reading, Daniel is New York bound. He says that he likes beautiful scenery, but that on his trip, he failed to find any; until he reached the praire.  Burnham explains the sheer size of the task of designing the fair. Due to the fair's geographic location, Burnham already knows that the fair will contain hundred of buildings and structures, some of which would be immense. The biggest constraint was time. They don't have much allotted time to complete all that work, and they have had a whole year to think. Holmes had a new idea, which was to turn his building into a hotel for visitors. Strangely enough, he wanted the hotel to appeal to and 'lure' a certain kind of 'clientele' to convince for a large fire insurance policy. When he was done using the building, he intended to burn it and collect the insurance and also destroy the rest of the materials.

Quote:

"He and John Root had considered designing the whole exposition themselves, and indeed their peers jealously expected they would do so" (Larson 77).

Reaction:

I picked this quote, firstly, because I like its sentence structure. That comma before the "and" makes it flow nicely. Secondly, designing the whole exposition themselves would not be an easy feat. One of Burnham's biggest concerns, however, was the architects that he needed to design the Fair's Major buildings, so this necesity would be negated. Ultimately, Burnham as a railroad constructor, and John Root whom drew some plans, must be extremely experienced to even contemplate such a task. We see this in everyday life, for instance, when your in a class in which a student is particularly skilled at, when a hard problem or question is posed, most of the class is jealously turned to such student.