Illusion in Melville's Short Stories

¶ … Illusion in Melville's Short Stories The theme of illusion is present in both Bartleby and Billy Bud. In both works, illusion is used as a way of showing how people cannot see reality. Also in both works, Melville is warning people not to see things based on illusion, but to open your mind and see reality. The major difference between the two works is that one focuses on the way people view society as a whole, while the other focuses on the way people view other people.

In Bartleby, Melville shows that people are viewing society based on accepted illusions. The major illusion is that work and money are important. Melville shows this because Bartleby is the one character who does not accept the system. This is seen where the narrator asks Bartleby to complete tasks and he replies by saying that he would prefer not to. This action is based on Bartleby not accepting the illusion of work as the other characters do.

He sees the truth, which is that work and money are not truly important. This is emphasized at the end of the work when Bartleby goes to jail and then dies because he prefers not to eat. Melville uses this to illustrate how depressing the truth of life is. This is again emphasized when the narrator learns that Bartleby worked in a dead letter office. Melville uses this detail to show how what people struggle for really means nothing. Just like the letters, and just like Bartleby, everyone dies.

The time that is spent living is spent completing meaningless tasks. This is what the narrator realizes at the novel's end, when he says "Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!" The final message is that society as a whole needs to find real meaning, and not continue to exist based on illusions of what is important. In Billy Bud, illusion is used in a different way. Billy Bud is the main character who lives based on illusion because of his naivety.

This naivety means that he is not able to see situations as they really are. For this reason, the evil Claggart is able to constantly manipulate him. This leads to Billy's downfall, and ultimately, his death. Much like Bartleby, the final message is that you cannot live based on illusion. Instead, you have to.