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Bartleby the Scrivener, By Herman Melville
The protagonist in this story by Herman Melville is the narrator, and Bartleby, a man of his own mind and a strong mind it is, is the antagonist. The narrator shows a disturbing lack of good judgment by coddling Bartleby, and begging Bartleby to cooperate. The narrator in this story represents the lack of human understanding in the business world of Melville's era. The thesis of this paper is that the narrator is playing the role of the stuffed shirt Wall Street kind of man who was typical of this era, and the narrator, while seemingly fair and reasonable, is totally out of touch with how to manage employees and how to deal with diversity and indifference. This would appear to be based on Melville's editorial view of capitalism and Wall Street per se during this era in the U.S.; in short, Melville is not investigating Bartleby, but rather he is exploring the intellect and rationality of the neoclassical man, the Wall Street man.
Analysis of the Story
Meanwhile, readers know from the beginning of the story that the narrator, a person of reason and logic, is going to have difficulty with Bartleby, a man who shows quirky, recalcitrant behavior. The reader is put in a position of backing the narrator, who asks reasonable things of Bartleby, but gets answers like, "I would prefer...
And he is flabbergasted by the "perverseness" and "unreasonableness" that Bartleby demonstrates. Yet, he is curious about why this man he hired is so strange and uncooperative. Nothing in the narrator's life has prepared him for this kind of indifference to cooperation. In trying to find out why Bartleby behaves in this bizarre fashion, the narrator is totally confused by Bartleby; what "reasonable objection" could there possibly be on Bartleby's part? The narrator shows his almost amazing patience towards Bartleby; the narrator's moral stance is admirable but the reader can glean that the narrator's kindness is based on his training as a common sense professional.
The narrator tries to dig into Bartleby's life story to flush out any clue (as attorneys are trained to do) that might lead to an understanding of this stubborn, unbending lack of professional cooperation on the job. But finally the narrator uses logic and patience once again:
"Bartleby, never mind, then, about revealing your history; but let me entreat you, as a friend, to comply as far as may be with the usages…
Works Cited
Charters, A. (2011). The Story and its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston, MA:
Bedford / St. Martin's.
After all, he was performing his main tack quite well and in a continuous manner. The second time to refuses to perform a task his boss gives him happens to be in front of all the other employees. This new situation commands immediate reaction from his part, because his very authority is questioned. By not taking action, he could open a chain of reaction and insubordination from the rest
He later finds out that Bartleby has refused to leave the old office. Eventually, Bartleby is thrown into jail, where he perishes, after having refused to eat. Towards the end of the story, the narrator reveals that he has heard a rumor that Bartleby used to work in a dead letter office - a job that naturally would have been crushing to someone of such a melancholic disposition as Bartleby.
Melville Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" describes the drudgery of daily life in an office. The reader learns about the title scrivener from a well-meaning, good-natured lawyer who hires Bartleby to help in the office alongside his relatively ineffective scribes Nippers and Turkey. At first, Bartleby seems a good fit in spite of his dour demeanor. As time passes, Bartleby loses all motivation to work. He starts to refuse
Bartleby, The Scrivener Although Melville's story of the scrivener would ostensibly seem to be about the mysterious stranger named Bartleby, it can more accurately be described as a story about the effect that Bartleby had on those around him, and particularly upon the anonymous lawyer narrating the story. The narrator presents himself as an unremarkable gentleman, a lawyer and employer who, in retrospection of his sixty years of life describes himself as
Therefore, both characters failed to have positive reviews from their employer; yet, by compensation, they managed to remain employed. The discrepancy between the assignments they were paid to manage and the actual results in fact will weight more by comparison to the amount of work Bartleby would be able to achieve up to a certain point. Therefore, it can be said that one of the first characterizations of the
Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Melville's story "Bartleby the Scrivener" is an alternately comedic and tragic look at the relationship between an employer and his employee, and examining how this relationship plays out reveals the complexities of managing a workplace and the sometimes overlooked nuances of the power dynamic present in this kind of relationship. The character of Bartleby represents the inversion of the narrator's own character and ideals, because he offers what