Compare and Contrast Billy Budd versus Bartleby Essay

When looking back at older works of literature, a person can always draw parallels between the lessons found written during that time period and the current time period. This is due to the fact that these themes are easily applicable on an individual level no matter what the current society is like. Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” is no exception with its lessons primarily focusing on isolation, the desire to avoid confrontation, and compassion. Through closer examination of these three themes, it becomes obvious to the reader just how necessary these ideals are in today’s society.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is a man who can be compared to Holden Caulfield from J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Jay Gatsby and Holden Caulfield are both caught up in their unattainable dreams and first love and as a result struggle with an obsession of their past.

The ability for Melville to explain this says so much about his capabilities as a writer. In Chapter 19, right as Claggart is accusing Budd, the author carefully paints an intricate picture so the reader has a clear understanding of the scene:

Both of Fitzgerald and Gatsby are the out-dated man of their times. Fitzgerald earns his reputation as a novelist, while Gatsby is ambitious and later became rich as a bootlegger. They meet their beloved girl and win them in the similar way. Also, they have the tragic end finally in the similar way.

Since its publication, “Benito Cereno” critics and casual readers alike have struggled to find clarity in Herman Melville’s chronicle of the slave ship “San Dominick” in his short story “Benito Cereno.” In an attempt to disaggregate Melville’s story, scholars have focused on various elements of the elusive tale. Articles have been written on a range of topics that run the gamut from the symbolic nature of the ships to Melville’s purpose and intent in writing the story. To wit, Valenti asserts that

The main argument of the book ‘The Sea-Wolf’ is about opposing behaviors of human being depicted by the role of nature in revealing the inner self of a person. In this regard, London uses two of his main characters to demonstrate the distinct opposing sides of human beings. The first part is about Humphrey, who is a young Dutch struggling with his demons and difficulties in the sea as he hope to change his life and those of fellow crews . Humphrey is initially weak, rich and naïve, and with straight morals . Humphrey believes on fairness, compassion, and all through the story despite being close to the evil Larsen he refuses to follow his footsteps .

There are many differences to be found between F. Scotts Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and the movie in 2013 directed by Baz luhrmann. Some differences are that many things have changed from the book back in the day to now days. Allot of differences can be found between the movie and the book; the changes can be seen in the characters and the theme mostly.

Both Hawthorne and Melville show the unbridgeable gap between human desires and human possibilities and the mixture of good and evil in even the loftiest of human motives. In “Bartleby the Scrivener”,

When a person looks around him or herself one sees many different people. Each person

The Great Gatsby is a wildly successful novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and was published in 1925. It is seemingly a love story tacking place in the midst of the roaring twenties, but contains a much more serious and less romantic underlying theme. The film rendition of this novel produced by Baz Luhrmann was a ginormous box-office hit, that revenued about 351 million dollars. The film starts world renounced actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. Overall the film version of The Great Gatsby truly captured the theme that the American Dream is often not as attainable as it is made out to be which is presented in the book.

The world of Ernest Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” exists through the mostly unemotional eyes of the character Nick. Stemming from his reactions and the suppression of some of his feelings, the reader gets a sense of how Nick is living in a temporary escape from society and his troubles in life. Despite the disaster that befell the town of Seney, this tale remains one of an optimistic ideal because of the various themes of survival and the continuation of life. Although Seney itself is a wasteland, the pine plain and the campsite could easily be seen as an Eden, lush with life and ripe with the survival of nature.

Here we have two stories “The Bath” and “A Small Good Thing” written by author Raymond Carver with the same premise but different ways of reaching its audience. Within this essay, I will state their differences in style, meaning and tone. While also, comparing particular passages by way of explaining distinctions in the description, and characterization. Each of the differences within these stories is what defines the image within the readers’ imagination. This writer has taken a story and revised it to either have a deeper or shallower meaning to compare each version side by side to share how different enough, it could be to make the story sound as if there were two.

Americans in the 1920s were fresh off of World War I and freshly into the Prohibition Era. The American Dream was well defined- a life of wealth, comfort, and exuberance. After a World War I victory, the Dream was thought to be in the near future for every American. The country was seen as a world superpower, wealthy after the devastation of a war fought entirely overseas and brimming with hope and possibility- at least on the surface. Despite the highs experienced by much of the country, it wasn't without its problems. Crime violence was benevolently running the streets and the Speakeasies beyond the reach of full Prohibition, the world was being set-up for The Great Depression, and America was brimming with members of the "Lost

Everyone has met at least one person in their life who was too good to be true. From wining and dining to lying and crying, things can change at the drop of a dime. You could never be prepared for someone of such an unstable nature. In this case, Dr. Jeckle & Mr. Hyde was my ex fiancé.

Left unfinished at Melville’s death in1891, Billy Budd, Sailor was not published until 1921. Raymond M Weaver found it in manuscript form while