Bartleby, the Scrivener is an
interesting short story written by Herman Melville. The narrator, a lawyer who runs his own
practice, tells his story of the strongest man he has ever known,
Bartleby. Bartleby the newest member of
the narrators staff along with Nippers, Turkey, and Ginger Nut. Nippers suffers from indigestion, Turkey is a
drunk, and Ginger Nut receives his name because Nippers and Turkey often send
him to get them ginger nut cakes. While
Nippers, Turkey, and Ginger Nut always do what they are told, Bartleby
refuses. One day, when Bartleby is asked
to help proofread a document, he simply replied, “I would prefer not to”
(295). Shocked, the narrator asked “What
do you mean? Are you moon-struck? I want you to help me compare this sheet here—take
it” (295). Bartleby once again replies “Prefer
not to” (295). This shows short
narrative shows that the narrator is not used to people saying no to him and
not immediately responding to his commands.
This shows strength in Bartleby’s character. We tend to see the response “I would prefer
not to” (297) quite frequently throughout the story. The narrator says “With any other man I should
have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and
thrust him ignominiously from my presence.
But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed
me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me. “I began to reason with him” (297). The narrator would have been infuriated with
anyone else for not following his demands, but for some reason the narrator
found interest in Bartleby. Perhaps
Bartleby being the first one to stand up to the narrator, makes the narrator
respect him even more. Do you think if
Nippers, Turkey, or Ginger Nut started to act like Bartleby, would the narrator
respond the way he does to Bartleby? Bartleby continues to refuse duties,
until finally he is doing no work at all and yet the narrator cannot get him to
leave. As the other employers get angry, the narrator decides to take action. The narrator moves his office but cant seem
to get rid of Bartleby. Bartleby haunts
the hallways and begins to concern the narrator to the point that he takes a
few days off of work. Upon his return he
learns that Bartleby is in prison. The
narrator goes to the prison to make sure Bartleby is well fed but a few days
later, he died because he would not eat.
Some time afterward, the narrator hears a rumor that Bartleby worked in
a Dead Letter Office. Do you think that
Bartleby’s job lead to his depression and death? Or do you think that he was
just insane?
I agree with Stephanie's reflection of this short story. Bartleby is a very strong character. He shows strength by being his own individual. I strongly agree with Stephanie when she says, "The narrator would have been infuriated with anyone else for not following his demands, but for some reason the narrator found interest in Bartleby. Perhaps Bartleby being the first one to stand up to the narrator, makes the narrator respect him even more." Because Bartleby showed confidence and that he wasn't going to do everything he was told, the narrator looked up to him in a way and was curious to find out why Bartleby was so stubborn.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Stephaine's perspective on this short story. Like any other person in society, when given a job is an expectation to follow the orders of someone who holds a higher position than you. For Bartleby, being himself is more important than changing who is he for another. It's humble sense of pride makes people either completely reject him or, in the narrator's case, accept him. To be as bold as Bartleby, as Stephaine says, "...to stand up to the narrator, makes the narrator respect him even more". Even though Bartleby's personality became his own downfall, it was not out of shame. Rather than viewing him as "stubborn", the narrator portrays to the readers that Bartleby's confidence in himself inspires others around him to always be true to themselves.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Stephanie's views on the short story. She said, "this shows that the narrator is not used to people saying no to him and not immediately responding to his commands." I agree with this because the Lawyer is very shocked when Bartleby "prefers" not to do work that is given to him. It is also clear that the Lawyer is curious about Bartleby's character. He was very happy with him at first because he was a great worker, but now Bartlebys' strangeness intrigues him. I don't think the job made Bartleby go mad. I think Bartleby went into the job knowing that he had to do his job so he was respected, but once he gained the respect of the people there, he got comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie's review of this essay. Bartleby is a very bold man for standing up to his boss at first by refusing to do anything he didn't want to do. But after a while this backfires because he outright refuses to do anything and then when fired refuses to leave as well. The Lawyer in the story seems fascinated with Bartleby for whatever the reason and feels sorry for him so he even visits him in jail. The Lawyer finds that Bartleby is dead and thinks he was depressed because of his last job. I just think that Bartleby is clinically insane .
ReplyDeleteIf he wasn't insane he would have at least done some of the things done some of the things he was told to do in order to maintain his job. We will never know for sure but maybe the entire thing was his way of going to jail and committing suicide like what happened in the end. If so then his plan worked to perfection.
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