In Melvilles Bartleby the Scrivener, Melville displays the life of a person, named Bartelby, who does almost nothing with his life except write.

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Freedom Writer

In Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener," Melville displays the life of a person, named Bartelby, who does almost nothing with his life except write. Even latter in the story, Bartelby gives up writing and on life itself. Melville's story brings up two major themes, which include writing and freedom. The story revolves around scriveners whose job it is to constantly copy documents and in a sense become a slave to writing. Bartelby, though one of the scriveners, resists the command to do exactly what he is told and as the story unfolds, he consistently refused to do what he was told. This defiance leads the reader to question whether Bartelby was protecting his freedom or just setting himself up for an early demise. Barthe includes in his essay "The Death of the Author" that the author has no control over how his work is interpreted and the reader must decide what the work truly means. Authors are only limited to being authors when they are in the midst of writing but once they have finished their work and are not writing then the Authors are no longer authors. Freedom is constantly emphasized throughout Melville's story because Bartelby chooses