Compare and Contrast, Bartleby, The Scrivener; book and movie

INTRODUCTION A picture is worth a thousand words, that’s the common theme that is increasingly true in our world today. Many movie adaptations of great classic stories and literature works have been created with great visuals. Question is, do the adaptations really carry the same meaning and weight of the original written works or are the adaptions meant to open new perspectives for the audiences? This paper will, through the examining the settings, character, tone and storylines, compare and contrast the book version and movie adaptation of the classic short story Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville. Herman Melville is regarded as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century; He†¦show more content†¦However the movie version had one advantage which was the usage of music that instilled a sense of peculiarity and strangeness to the common sense of things. The book has more a mundane tone to the story, basically the typical office environment and the only display of activities was about Bartleby’s passive resistance. The movie had a more comical tone to many of the scenes such as when Rocky comically engaged in sweet or trashy phone talk with some nameless women or when Ernie repeatedly indulges himself in seemingly retarded behaviors during the city manager’s visit to the office. The subtle seduction of both the boss and the city manager by Vivian also greatly enhanced the overall comical sense of the movie. STORYLINE One main difference between the movie and the book is the ending. In the movie Bartleby died outside on the street near a homeless camp compared to his death in the prison yard in the book. In the movie after Bartleby’s death and the boss discovered a letter his Bartleby’s jacket. It was the letter he wrote for Bartleby as a recommendation letter in hopes of encouraging Bartleby to find another job, the letter became a dead letter. This realization was very impactful that it allowed the boss to focus on capturing Bartleby’s story as his primary mission in life. In an attempt to spread the story of humanity he went to a publisher and was met with rejection. In