In the rising action, Melville introduces a symbol, the plaster of Paris bust of Cicero, which serves as a kind of foretaste of the mask of cool detachment which obscures Bartleby's emotions. we both are getting old," a foreshadowing of the lawyer's perception that he has more in common with ordinary workmen than he may realize. A third narrative device, a bit of dialogue between Turkey and the lawyer, concludes with Turkey's remark, ". A subsequent device, the introduction of Turkey, employs an image of his face, which "gaining its meridian with the sun, seemed to set with it, to rise, culminate, and decline the following day, with the like regularity and undiminished glory." Prophetically, the image foreshadows the rapid rise and decline of Bartleby. In the exposition, the narrator briefly broaches a digression on the "sudden and violent abrogation of the office of Master in Chancery, by the new Constitution, as a - premature act." Later mention of Bartleby's career disappointment at the Dead Letter Office makes the initial, casual throwaway remark meaningful in the overall analysis of the two major characters, who at the outset appear worlds apart, yet share similar career disappointments. Part of Melville's skill in storytelling is his ability to weave significant stylistic devices into his narrative technique.
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