The idea of change is one of history and transition, from the start of time the world follows a course filled with new ideologies, new technology and new environmental influences.  It is with the aspect of environmental influences that the stories “There Was Once” by Margaret Atwood and “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Herman Melville can be linked with this idea of change.  These two pieces follow many of the same conventions such as the manipulation of a seemingly set structure and that the spark of the change in the characters lies in external influences.  Through a deeper understanding of “There Was Once” and “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” it can be seen that the deep divide between the objective change forced on the man in “There Was Once” in comparison to the passive natural change onset in “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”.  Though these pieces could seem quite similar that they both involve change brought on through external forces the vast differences found through deeper understanding of the authors and the text themselves.  The differences between these two pieces can first be explained by the uniquely different lives of their authors and the way that their lives and upbringing could affect their style followed by the varying personal values of these authors.

The piece “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Herman Melville is one that can initially be recognized as a simple plot having a successful lawyer with a quirky staff of copyists, yet it is when Bartleby choses to respond to the narrator’s request with “I would prefer not to.” (481 Melville) that the plot of the story really begins to thicken.  The lawyer was not a rookie when it came to difficult employees yet it was the passive resistance of Bartleby’s statement that the lawyer had no idea of what had begun.  The statement Bartleby makes was not an isolated incident, throughout the story its reoccurrence does not stop even after the lawyer is forced move the location of his firm because Bartleby refuses to leave the office.  All throughout this the resistance by Bartleby is subtly changing the narrator from a man who is strictly about business to a man who has compassion and intrigue.  To start it seems that Bartleby will be the focus of the meaning of the stories but it seems as if the author uses Bartleby to evoke this change in the narrator culminating in the outburst of emotion by the narrator with “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!” (502). Much can be gained from this last line and last paragraph pertaining to Bartleby and the narrator’s compassion towards Bartleby, the final line shows how the lawyer has changed to a man of compassion.

In Contrast “There Was Once” by Margaret Atwood starts in the conventional sense of a fairy tale yet it quickly turns into the dialogue of an argument between two people.  For the ease of explanation the story can be told in terms of the two characters one as the reader and the other as the critique.  By the end of the pieces the reading of the fairy tale does not even get past the first sentence of the story.  This story has a very strong presence of feminism from the start through the last sentence, these consisting of references to men as twisted individuals.  The early portions of the piece are largely a critique of the very subjective descriptions given by the author of the story in comparison to their relative truth in the modern world.  The very abrupt criticisms of the language used by the author of the fairy tale do not stop with the environmental aspects, yet they are introduced further with the critique making changes to every minute detail with strong opinions on every aspect of the story in relation to the modern world. Following the middle of the piece and closer to the end of the story the critique’s statements shift from a feeling of requested change to a sense of force and violence encouraged by the critique “We all know those twisted, repressed, middle-aged men are like” (512 Atwood).  Once this shift occurs it creates an uncomfortable dynamic between the two characters with one being a middle aged man and the other being a very outspoken feminist with a “Chip on her shoulder”.  The story is finished with much of the same feminist criticisms and a final line “So, why not here?” (513) bringing in a sense of the present day not looking at the story as a past event.  

The many differences in style and approach to their writing can be attributed to the life experiences and social upbringings of Herman Melville and Margaret Atwood.  One of the first comparisons to be made between the lives of the two authors is that of simply the time period in which Melville lived and Atwood lives.  Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819, his life was filled with many trial in tribulations starting at a young age falling ill with Scarlet fever, a very prominent illness of the time.  He survived the illness yet it permanently impaired his vision.  Melville studied writing and literature, however he was not able to find a job in a field he desired so he set off to work on ships which led to the ideas of many of his pieces.  Through his many life experiences, trials and tribulations he encountered in his lifetime he was able to use his life as the basis for his writing.  Although “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” was not a story influenced by his sea faring days, it was a product of his lifelong change as a person, the idea of subtle change over time is ever present with the lawyer in “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” the lifelong change not seen in many of his other pieces yet the concept is so well applied to the lawyer in the story that the premise can be introduced to the readers and critiques of “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”.  It would not be much of a stretch to compare Melville to the lawyer character in his story based on the gradual change as a person.

In sharp contrast with the life of Herman Melville, Margaret Atwood from her start as a young writer embodies an unwavering specific style that translates well into “There Was Once”.   The strong presence of almost “Abrupt Feminism” is found throughout “There Was Once” this theme parallels Atwood’s life similarly to how Melville’s life parallels the ideas in “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”.  She was always a very self-righteous writer and person in the sense of her feminist point of view on issues found in the modern day.  Atwood grew up in quite a different way than Melville.  She spent half of her childhood years with her father in the rugged bush of northern Canada where she was given a much more conducive environment for thought and time to determine the person and writer that she aspired to be, this contrast in lifestyle and changes found throughout each authors life is basis for difference in their pieces.  Atwood’s Independent lifestyle can be linked to the female character’s very headstrong attitude towards the language of the story.

Alongside the dissection of each story and the lives of each author it can be seen how the two types of change found in the stories relate to the personal lives of their respective authors.  It is so important to look upon the life of the author when breaking down elements of a text in this case being the change found in both.  Margaret Atwood led a life that had a pronounced shift early in life which relates to the very sharp change seen in “There Was Once”.  In contrast Melville’s life of stability with change taking place over time is shown in the plot of “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”. We can link the different lifestyles of Atwood and Melville to the different types of change found in the two texts.  

Like anything in life, comparisons can be made between anything and everything with “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Herman Melville and “There Was Once” by Margaret Atwood being no exception.  The similar aspects of change and the undeniable effect of external influences on the lives of everyone in the world.  The purpose of this is to look beyond the surface level similarities of these two pieces, but to look deeper into the cause and source of the deep divide between the themes of gradual change and the effect of the intricacies of life found in “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Herman Melville paralleling his very own life experiences contrasted by the sense of forced objective change seen in Atwood’s life and reflected in “There Was Once” by Margaret Atwood.  These two pieces illustrate the need to look beyond the surface of general understanding and find the true root of the differences found between all works. 
