The Uncompromising Code of Bartleby the Scrivener Essay

In Herman Melville`s fictional work “Bartleby the Scrivener”, he explores the idea of spiritual death through a young man named Bartleby. He shows how someone`s state of mind can change their whole life. By using motif, symbolism, setting, and characterization Melville proves that men can experience spiritual death due to their failure to break through barriers built the pressures of social conformity.In the story Melville uses the maximum security institution as an example of a lonely place looking upon the confining institution of life (Hoffman 3).

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

Bartleby does not want to be a part of the world, he is used to changing into a more industrial world. He tries to refuse to fall into the trap that others have fallen into. Some would say that he is doing this because he may have a mental illness. There are all different kinds of mental illnesses and back then during the time of Bartleby they were not treated like they are today; many were not even diagnosed back then, society out cast these unfortunate people as being weird. A mental illness that makes him not want to be a part of society. Hannah Walser says, “an apparently “mind blind” character like Bartleby not only represents a pathological condition-autism or something like it- but constitutes a kind of textual pathology; a devotion from fiction evolutionary mandate” (Walser 313-314). Rereading this short story after hearing this quote; makes reader’s realize the signs that

In Bartleby, The Scrivener, Bartleby serves as the main character with his distinct nature that everyone is trying to decipher. Despite the attention around Bartleby, much of the story also revolves around the narrator, the lawyer, who tells the story through his perspective; this implies that the lawyer’s ideology and perception of societal norms shape the interactions between the lawyer and Bartleby but also how the story is told. Take for example, if the lawyer disregards Bartleby and fires him on the spot, this story would have ended rather quickly and been much different than it actually is. With this said, the lawyer’s peculiar attraction to Bartleby’s strange behavior can be explained by the lawyer’s innate ideas of social norms and instruction that stems from the behavior of the other scriveners and his own experiences.

A life lived, no matter the curves that people impose on their path is a crux of fulfillment. In Bartleby the Scrivener, Bartleby chooses to impose the curves of isolation to take a more direct path towards his inevitable death. The reader sees this through the lawyers eyes and only really sees what the lawyer sees as this story is essentially one continuous flashback. The reader is as much barred from Bartleby’s meaning and thoughts as the lawyer is and as such the lawyer is molded into the role of a surrogate audience that the readers emulate, just as those who work in the office pick up on Bartleby’s mannerisms. Melville’s constructing a very strong narrative to try and mislead his readers into a specific way of thinking then branching from that core thought. This core thought that Melville tries to direct his audience to is Bartleby’s unwavering stubbornness for gradually increasing inactivity. By limiting the information available for what Bartleby’s reasons for his actions are through the first person limited perspective this story is told as, Melville provides a mystery that challenges the reader to solve. For the reader, Bartleby is shown as a character development rubix cube for the reader to puzzle out.

As we all have observed, throughout history each culture or society has unique norms that are acceptable to that group of people. Therefore, to establish and come to the acceptance of these basic norms, each society must develop its’ own strategies and techniques to encourage the fundamentals of behavior, which is clear in our modern society. Most do assume that everyone in a society will follow and respect such norms. However, some tend to deviate from the adequate norms and demonstrate deviant behavior. Nevertheless, we are inclined to ask ourselves, why do people decide to violate such important standards of living?

Bartleby took the job as a scrivener to try and find a purpose for his life, but soon after his boss abandons him, he ends up in jail. At this moment in his life he sees that he truly has nothing. His quest for purpose as a scrivener has failed. He is at the end of his life, not because he is old or sick physically, but because he has nothing to live for. While in jail he refuses to eat and soon he dies. His reason for living died a long time ago, though. His pursuit to be a scrivener was

Bartleby gradually loses his motivation to work in the Wall Street Office. The lawyer wants him to examine a small document but

Bartleby works on Wall Street, the heart of American capitalism. Everyone, including the reader, sees Bartleby as a strange character who is quite enigmatic. He acts very differently from everyone around him and is only tolerated for as long as he is because of the narrators problem with confrontation. Everyone around Bartleby has a social life, ambition, or some other sort of drive behind their work but Bartleby seems to work only because he does, with no motivation. Everyone else in the story thinks they are “going somewhere” or getting something done.

Although this appeared up by the end of the story, it is evident that this background information influenced how Bartleby arose to be a product of the setting. According to the narrator, he had always displayed the sense of stubbornness throughout the passage, as he does not follow his boss’s direction and always oppose, in

Bartleby was a simple man in the beginning, he was the average worker. He was boring, hard working, followed the flow of society. Bartleby would soon change everything anyone knew about society before then. With the uttering of five simple words, “I

Bartleby tells his own boss and owner of the law office to leave his own property while he remains inside. This event solidifies the fact that the boss has no backbone for himself or the company. The boss cannot stand up for himself and tells Bartleby to leave, but rather takes the command of one of his incompetent workers. Bartleby at this point has gained complete control over his own boss.

The main character Bartleby is described as completely without emotion, at one point “…he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically”(Melville), as well as, imaged as a ghost. “Bartleby the Scrivener” shows that of an internal conflict, the narrator has to deal with someone who appears to be without any human attributes. A perfect example of this situation is when Bartleby declines the task that was given to him by the lawyer. Bartleby's plain, uncommunicative nature is a perfect explanation for his common response, "I would prefer not."

At first, the illusion of a good work ethic is put forth by Bartleby. Nevertheless this commitment is short lived and he begins refusing to do his work stating “I would prefer not to” anytime he is asked to review his copies documents. This is something that The Lawyer chooses not to condemn at first out of some sort of

Bartleby chooses to go against the norm by staying in the office while living and breathing work, because he seems to think its wrong to earn a great deal of money with little expense to himself. In class we touched on Bartleby’s passive aggressiveness and how he doesn’t deliberately fight against he used that phrase, “he prefers not to.” His progressive passivity is his objection to partake in the actions of the common traditions. He is going against the rules, but is also a mystery, because no one understands him nor does Melville provide any information