Bartleby, The Scrivener : A Story Of Wall Street

In a speech by Mary Elizabeth Lease, “Wall Street Owns The Country”, she mentioned that this nation is a nation of inconsistencies. The main things she wanted to state was the nation’s economics and political woes because of the government was ruled based on the monetary value by wall street that cause people to suffer. Furthermore, she said that the welfare of the people was no longer considered by the government as a priority but money was. Most of the actions made by the government did not benefit people anymore. The government asked people to go to work and raise a big crop. So the people did as the government said, but the crops were still not enough because the people were “overpopulated”, according to the government. Therefore, people

The secondary title for the novel, A Story of Wall-Street, sets the stage for what has become another moral dilemma of man — the importance of commerce placed over the importance of life. Melville plays with the role of commerce continuously throughout this work, which takes place inside of a Lawyer's office on Wall Street. The Lawyer states, very simply, that he is "a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best," revealing that at the very core of his being is an ideal that anything strenuous he may come across in his path should be quickly avoided, as to not cause any disturbance in his daily routine (Melville 1). This accurately sums up the general mindset of those on Wall Street at the time, and perhaps America as a whole -- that anything out of the ordinary was considered a nuisance to those focused entirely on the generation of wealth. The Lawyer recognizes this, and even considers himself a part of this crowd. However, he has taken the time to write this account of Bartleby, the Scrivener that arrives one day to fill a position in the office. While Bartleby may represent this "nuisance" exactly, the Lawyer finds himself drawn towards the mysterious quality he brings, unaware whether he will be beneficial to the firm or

Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener” reveals different themes such as isolation and human morality test. In the story, the narrator runs a law firm and has a new Scrivener [Bartleby] who the narrator describes as“ the strangest I ever saw or heard of” (661). For the first few days, Bartleby is seen to be working fine, however, one day Bartleby just responds with “I would prefer not to” when anyone assigns a task to Bartleby (674). The real problems start to arise when Bartleby sleeps and eats at the office while denying to work or leave. The narrator illustrates the two main themes of human morals and isolation throughout the story with the use of biblical references to Bartleby as a leper and shows symbolism of the

Herman Melville is an acclaimed author of the American Renaissance period and his most commendable works include “Bartleby, the Scrivener”. The story of “Bartleby” is not only a revelation of the business world of the mid-19th century but at the same time, it is also the manifestation of the emerging capitalistic lifestyle of perhaps New York’s most prominent street, Wall Street. Bartleby is a rather peculiar yet captivating figure. Bartleby’s life and death contribute to a sort of enigma for the reader and his employer. “Bartleby, the Scrivener” is a story that criticizes the monotonous day-to-day cycle that the modern working man is forcibly put in by society. With that being said, the death of Bartleby not only serves as a reflection

In 1938, and in the teeth of the longest and fiercest depression that the United States had ever known, capital spending hit an all time high. That’s right! In 1938 the men who owned America began to pour millions of Dollars into new plant and equipment as if there was no tomorrow. We don’t think much about it today, because it has been a long time since the United States has experienced a real bone jolting economic slowdown. The fact is, however, that the very best time for the industrialist to invest in new technologies is in the middle of a depression. This is because it is at such times that labor, raw materials, and new equipment can be purchased at rock bottom prices. Henry Ford may have jumped the gun a bit. He shut down his River

The character of Bartleby in Herman Melville’s novella “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street” is a person who refuses to become an object in capitalistic society. Initially, he is the perfect example of the objectification and mechanization of humans in the workplace. In essence, Bartleby is a machine that continually produces. Ultimately, he begins to resist the mind numbing repetition of his tasks and the mechanization of his life. The other main character, the narrator, is a facilitator of the capitalistic machine. He dehumanizes his employees by ensuring that their free will is denied in the workplace using objectifying nicknames, providing a workplace devoid of human touch and connection,; and perpetuating mechanized, repetitive work. Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener” shows the dehumanizing effects of working in a capitalistic environment and ultimately suggests that one must conform to a standard way of life or will cease to exist.

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” is about a lawyer, the narrator, who prides himself in taking in employees who have quirky traits. At the beginning of the story, he employees three men, Turkey, Nippers, and Gingernut, are the names they are known as. Turkey is an older man who drinks heavily during his lunch break, Nippers is younger but described by the narrator as overly ambitious, and Gingernut, is a young boy who runs errands for the office. Turkey and Nippers are scriveners, and the man named Bartleby is hired as a third Scrivener. Bartleby is liked by the lawyer because he is very sedate and respectful. These scrivener’s run copies, and proofread documents for the lawyer, essentially, they do very mundane work daily, in a repetitive fashion. Bartleby begins rejecting his responsibilities at work, stating, “I would prefer not to.” The lawyer gives him a few days and tries again, with the same response, which he responded by trying to persuade his employee to do his work through reasonable reasons. Continuingly he refuses, and the narrator, is forced to slowly accept there is nothing he can do to help Bartleby. The lawyer begins taking him in as his responsibility, giving him multiple chances to do his job, and even accepts him living there, but when enough is enough he gives him six days to leave the office. At the end of his six days, the lawyer gives him his wages plus some extra cash to find somewhere to live. Eventually, his moral character won’t allow him to kick Bartleby out, to the point he picks up his business and moves. Still, Bartleby will not leave the prior office space. He hardly speaks, if he does it is to state something along the lines of, “I’d prefer not…” and he just sort of stares blankly with no

In his essay “Panopticism,” Michel Foucault introduces the Panopticon structure as proof of modern society tending toward efficient disciplinary mechanisms. Starting with his example of the strict, intensely organized measures that are taken in a typical 17th-century plague-stricken town, Foucault describes how the town employed constant surveillance techniques, centralized a hierarchy of authorities to survey households, partitioned individual structures to impose certain behavior, and record current information about each individual.

Wall Street is commonly regarded as a vicious battleground occupied by thousands of money-hungry individuals that wish to strike it big by climbing the corporate ladder by any means necessary. While many win and many more lose everything as people try to succeed on Wall Street, Melville sees a problem outside the bounds of losing and gaining money. Melville realized that an existential battle was simultaneously taking place within the minds of these young people. In Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener, Melville emits contempt for society and its corrupt values by creating underdeveloped characters that lack typical characteristics of fully established individuals. With work, money, profits, and productivity at the center of the universe,

Is there such a thing as abstract literature? Melville definitely puts some weigh in favor of this argument by writing Bartleby the Scrivener: a Wall Street Story. Bartleby is a short story left literary critics wondering the true meaning of this bizarre story while only having as a clue the author’s point of view about the times the story was written, the 1850s. Melville uses his characters as tools to show his opinion of capitalism in its beginnings. Bartleby and its characters offer a snapshot of could be considered Melville stance about capitalism and all the calamities it brings to people like selfishness, arrogance, and hopelessness.

Whether it be popular culture such as television shows or movies or real life scenarios society always finds work structure to be a captivating and dare I say entertaining. Melville’s account of Wall Street is an interesting one that explores characters that have some similar characteristics to modern day office settings. This paper will explore the different personalities described in “Bartleby the Scrivener”, discover how that relates to modern culture, and conclude with why people find it captivating.

In his essay Panopticism in Discipline & Punish, Michel Foucault introduces the Panopticon structure, the idea of Jeremy Bentham that is no communication between prisoners to each other to demonstrate a disciplinary mechanism, power, and surveillance which society uses to tend toward by the first example with a description of measures of control people when the plague appeared in a town at the end of the seventeenth century. Foucault describes how the surveillance system of the town was set up that the syndics, the intendants, and the guards monitor households, authorize street, and record current information on each individual. Base one the Panopticon concept, a tall

As a curious modern subject, he investigates the city around him, both accepting and criticizing the government’s treatment of citizens. H.F shows distrust and fear of those potentially infected. However, he also displays compassion and empathy for those who are shut up or forced to roam the streets to survive. In his descriptions, H.F capitalizes on the sensory experiences of those imprisoned and tries to express the psychological pain they endured. He writes, “I come back to the Case of Families infected, and shut up by the Magistrates; the Misery of those Families is not to be express’d, and it was generally in such Houses that we heard the most dismal Shrieks and Out-cries of the poor People terrified, and even frightened to Death, by the Sight of the Condition of their dearest Relations, and by the Terror of being imprisoned as they were.” (49) Despite his belief that it is wise to quarantine the infected, H.F demonstrates an understanding of the opposition against it. Interestingly, he dislikes the practice not only because it is harmful, but also because it is ineffective. Conveying the difficult job of the watchmen, he cites a number of instances in which people used trickery to conceal their illnesses or violence as a means of escape. These people often ran madly through the streets, potentially spreading the plague

In his book, Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street, Peter L. Bernstein examines the innovative financial work of various academics that helped shape modern Wall Street. Bernstein sets out to show that Wall Street is in fact a fundamental and useful model to follow, rather than something to be feared. He points out that, “By combining the linkage between risk and reward with the combative nature of the free market, these academics brought new insights into what Wall Street is all about and devised new methods for investors to manage their capital.” (2) These impressive scholars have incorporated scientific measurement to the art of finance, forever

Michel Foucault and his passage “Panopticism” in his work Discipline and Punish expands upon the original ideas of Jeremy Bentham and the Panopticon: a system of surveillance utilized on a group of individuals for which there may be many motives. Foucault relates the Panopticon to other particular systems within the societal wheel and clarifies upon its power to not only individualize a person within pre-meditated constraints, but also to observe, collect, modify, and impose, among a vast amount of other possibilities, in order to yield untampered results (Foucault 200-202). He builds up the solidity of what he refers to as “the mechanism” in the objectified “tower” through which all power of the Panopticon lies; the location where the observer