There are many approaches to analyzing literature such as psychological, formalist, historical, gender, biographical, etc. In biographical strategies it may be important to consider such things as where the author grew up, where did he/she attend school, who were their inspirations, acquaintances, and good friends, where did they work, what time period did they live in and what was going on in the world at the time, etc. However, biographical information may be of no use in correctly analyzing an author's intent. Their biographical information could point in a completely different direction then where the author might have wanted to go with their literature. Therefore, using this information may lead to an incorrect analysis of the story. Nevertheless, biographical information usually helps the reader's appreciation of a work by giving a little background info on the author. Taking a biographical approach to Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" makes for a interesting analysis.
             Herman Melville was born and raised in New York City until he was eleven years of age. Melville later returned to New York City where he spent his last days. "Bartleby" takes place in New York City and for that reason Melville might have used some of his thoughts, experiences, and beliefs about this setting to influence his tale of Wall Street. Maybe, Melville's father having owned his own business in New York City predisposed Melville's ideas about Wall Street and the business owner in "Bartleby." Melville wrote "Bartleby" two years after he wrote his most famous novel "Moby Dick" which at the time failed to impress anyone. Melville might have written "Bartleby" about a "failure of communication between humans" because the complexity of his writings and lack of communication were the reasons behind his recent failures such as "Moby Dick." "Bartleby...