The Cask of Amontillado & Bartleby, The Scrivener

The Cask Of Amontillado

• I like Poe as a writer, but I didn't understand most of the what he wrote in The Cask Of Amontillado. It uses different words that made it hard to understand what it is trying to say. I've read this story before in class, but I still don't understand it as well as I could. My summary of the book isn't well because I still have a hard time understanding the material. The wording probably confuses me the most.
• Fortunato did something to the narrator that made him want to seek revenge on him. Fortunato is proud of himself, and people looked up to him. I think he was rich and loved to drink wine. The narrator runs into Fortunato and tells him he has a cask full of wine. They drink together. Something happens with bones, and they drink more wine. Somehow, Fortunato dies because of the narrator. I think he gets chained up and then sealed with bricks.

Bartleby, The Scrivener

• The story was a lot easier to understand more than Poe. He still used confusing words in which it made it hard to understand, but I got the gist of what he was trying to say. I do not understand the point of the story though. I think it is about helping out people in need and charity.
• The narrator is a very old man. Out of all the people he has done business with, Bartleby sticks out in his mind. He works with 3 other men who go by Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut. Turkey is an Englishman who is his age. Turkey is also only good with working in mornings, but terrible when it comes to later in the day. Nippers is 25, and he is very amitious. He has a smaller income than Turkey, but better dressed? He is opposite of Turkey because he is not a very good worker in the morning. Ginger nut is 12 years old. His dad has died, and he was sent to the office everyday while his dad was alive. He was sent out to get ginger nut cake for Nippers and Turkey. That is how he got his nickname. The narrator put up an advetisement for a new worker, and Bartleby answered to the advertisement. He hires him, and Bartleby starts off doing great working there. One day, the narrator sits him down and begins to tell him what he needs to do today. Bartleby replies "I prefer not to." The narrator is very stunned by his comment. Instead of fighting with Bartleby, the narrator orders Nippers to do what he wanted Bartleby to do. Then he calls for a meeting so they can all look over some paper work, but Bartleby still says "I prefer not to." He asks the others if he think he is being too unreasonable. They all agree that Bartleby should be kick out of the office. The narrator ignores it and makes them do his job. They are all very upset by this. The narrator notices that Bartleby never leaves for dinner or for any meal. He is always at the office. Ginger nut always is bringing him food so he never has to leave. He thinks that Bartleby is poor, so even though he isn't doing his work, he keeps him working there. The narrator also finds out that he has been living there, so he still keeps him around.  He asks him many questions about Bartleby but all he replies is "I prefer not to." Bartleby now refuses to even write because of his vision, so there is really no use in him being there anymore. He moves his office to another building, but the lawyers do not like Bartle living there. He is always asleep on the stairs. They threaten to call the police, so he talks to Bartleby. He asks if he wants to live with him, but he refuses. So Bartleby is taken to prision. He refuses to eat and is very upset with the narrator. Bartleby eventually dies in prision.