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Bartleby the Scrivener
The story “Bartleby the Scrivener” is centered on Bartleby as the main character who is presented through the narration of an old lawyer. The main focus of the story is the relationship that the main character has with the narrator and the way he performs his job. The story focuses on the forms of relations that he has with his fellow employees at the office. Bartleby comes into the story after the law practice of the narrator becomes increasingly demanding and work requires him to engage the assistance of a scrivener (Mathew 172). To help him in his law practice, the lawyer engages the services of Bartleby, as a scrivener in his office.
Bartleby is presented as a hardworking individual who is committed to his work and assisting the narrator runs his law practice. This is because he was employed when work demands were high at the work place. Before employing Bartleby, the old lawyer already has the services of other two Scriveners, Turkey and Nippers, and is also assisted by Ginger Nut, an errand boy (Melville 2). After his employment, Bartleby works well together with his colleagues and starts out to be an excellent copyist in the office (Inge 120). Before his immediate change of character, Bartleby is keen to what he does, and the narrator is satisfied with the way he does his work.
At the same time, Bartleby is presented as a person who adopts two sides of the character. On one side, he was committed to his work and minded his job with high regards. On the other hand, he changes character and becomes a person who does not care about what happens in his life. On this side, he is presented as a non-caring and insensitive person who does not heed to the issues affecting his life. The extremes of this character are seen when he avoids leaving the work station and even decides to live there (Inge 120). Even when the narrator shifts his office from the location, Bartleby still continues to live there. To the dismay of the business associates of the lawyer, Bartleby spends days sitting on the stairs of the building.
However, Bartleby is presented as an ignorant person who does not seem to be concerned with what is happening around him. The character change from the conscious and committed worker to non-concerned individual earns him the ignorant personality (Mathew 173). He answers “I would prefer not to” to most of the work given to him and the issues that surround him (Melville 6). He starts by evading most of the work by gradually preferring not to do some tasks. As a result, he develops an attitude of not knowing or understanding anything that takes place at work, or even in his personal life. While he was not like this in the beginning, he changes to take another side of his life that eventually leads him to death.
The two sides of Bartleby’s Character
The two sides of Bartleby are well presented by the anonymity of the narrator. The old lawyer remains anonymous throughout the plot and the context. While Bartleby is the main character, it is the narrator who introduces the context of the story and the entire plot. He introduces all the characters in the story and presents the characterization descriptions that open the audience into the lives of the other characters (Weaver 109). This way, the two sides of Bartleby’s character are described by his independent actions. The audience can objectively evaluate Bartleby based on his interaction with the employer and his colleague. Through his actions, the two sides of Bartleby as the main character are contrasted with a view to make the audience tend to interrogate the cause of his problems.
His second side of his character is symbolized by the phrase “I would prefer not to” to indicate the level of his uncaring attitude. His change has affected his work, behavior and finally his life. His character so damaged that he prefers not to leave the office and go home or even find a place to stay. He also prefers live at the office and symbolically refuses the offer from the narrator to join him and live with him. This shows how the second character of his life is dominated by the “would prefer not to” attitude that now defines his character (Inge 121). In addition, his life hangs on the line when he is evicted from the office location and taken is imprisoned at The Tombs. It is in this place where his second side of character leads him to death by starving himself, as he prefers not to eat.
Origin of his character and social point of view
From a literary point of view, the narrator uses his anonymity in the story to create a character in Bartleby that aims at communicating an issue in the society. The character of Bartleby seems to have been created to show characters originating from a clinical condition or a psychological problem (Mathew 167). The character of Bartleby may have been created by the narrator to present the plight of people who face clinical or psychiatric problems in life. From a critical point of view, there must be a logical explanation of the immediate shift of character of Bartleby. Critically evaluating the situation, Bartleby could have been a victim of a clinical condition like depression. This is because he showed no motivation to live, or survive as he even refuses food while in detention.
Another origin of Bartleby’s character is the narrator himself. The narrator might be reflecting his own life experience through Bartleby as a character in the story. This may be the primary reason why the narrator chooses to remain anonymous, so that he can give prominence to the character of Bartleby. It is worth noting that the narrator does not give the reader any history of Bartleby, or any indication to show the origin of the problem (Mathew 173). This could be an intentional action by the narrator in order to leave the task of conclusion to the reader, after learning from Bartleby’s experience (Weaver 112). In addition, the lack of history means that Bartleby must have come from the narrator’s mind, as a reflection of his own personal experience.
The social aspect of this story can be critically observed from the way the society treats Bartleby in his situation. The people around Bartleby do not take any action to get a solution for him. The narrator cares about the plight of Bartleby, but does not take any action to solve his problems (Mathew 176). This shows the lack of concern on the cause of Bartleby’s problem and suggestion on the problem. This is the reason why the narrator does not conclude the plight of Bartleby even with his death in prison. This shows how the society treats people like Bartleby by not caring about their problems.
Works Cited
Inge, Thomas. Bartleby the inscrutable: a collection of commentary on Herman Melville’s tale “Bartleby the scrivener,” Hamden, Conn. : Archon Books, 1979, Print
Mathew, Guillen. Reading America: Text as a Cultural Force, Palo Alto, Ca: Academica Press,LLC, 2007
Melville, Herman. Bartleby the Scrivener. New York: Herman Melville
Weaver, Raymond. Shorter novels of Herman Melville, With an introduction, New York: Liveright Pub, 1942, Print