The Call of “Bartleby the Scrivener” and “Young Goodman...

Authors truly have endless opportunities as far as creating effects is concerned. They can create effects by what they say and they also can create effects by what they do not say, or what their characters do not do. In 19th century American literature, we see the use of the latter tool in â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, where authors do not give the full information about their characters and events to create the desired effects. In Herman Melville’s â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener†, the enigmatic title character â€Å"prefers not to† do things. On the other hand, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, the lead character appears to be affected by his own inability to discern the truth and thus becomes a character that†¦show more content†¦He never finds any proof of evilness in his wife or the respected people around him, but he still chooses to be doubtful. The subtle message that the story gives is that â€Å"doubt† is the culprit and men are at fault for succumbing to it. Doubting does not make Brown’s life any better. He never trusted anybody and he were not even deceived by anybody. So the story shows that by having faith, he could have changed his life. He could have lived much more happily. In both â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† and â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, we find themes and characteristics of â€Å"Dark Romanticism†. They represent characters who do not completely know what the most right thing to do is. But what both these works do is create an urge in the reader to wish for perfection. These two stories are more like bridges to transcendentalism. Even though the dark romanticism period in the New England led by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville and Emily Dickinson did not fully embrace transcendentalism, these two stories particularly leave the reader wanting and pondering more. The human mind wo rks in a complex way and it has to be prepared for certain things to emerge. These two stories serve as a mirror that will help us to look within us for something more divine, that will help us find a greater understanding of what we ought to do. In both â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† the