Herman Melville (1819-1891)
Context and Background
“Bartleby the Scrivener” was written in 1853, born in New York City, he was considered an “1870 writer”. Melville was one of the first American writers able to make a living off writing.
People were interested in reading fiction, and “Moby Dick” was not common or appealing to the general population but holds merit today. He wrote “relatable” fiction, and people liked to read travel logs and exciting adventure stories (escapist literature). Moby Dick is not a relatable story due to the context of the scenarios, but it is considered an artistic novel because it is obscure and challenging. Melville wrote in two different modes; strange, difficult and unrealistic compared to relatable, realistic fiction. Bartleby the Scrivener contains elements of both; it is set in a New York office yet still continues weird elements. It was meant to be accessible and was considered “Great Literature” because it is symbolic, subtle and ironic.
Bartleby the Scrivener * The boss is governed by the obligations of Wall Street, but also contains sympathetic traits towards Bartleby. Bartleby, who we do not know, is insane, stubborn, or stupid, and his behaviour is left up for interpretation. * Historical context: In the right hand corner of America, the Puritans went from England to settle in this area for religious reasons. New York was founded by the Dutch and they intended to set up a trading post. War was fought between these 2 groups, and the Puritans established New York. The Dutch were interested in money compared to the Puritans who were interested in religion. New York was essentially founded for money. * Industrialization, urbanization and unionization as well as labour concerns became problematic in New York, and essentially this story is about the circulation of capitalism in New York and the side effects in behaviour while under the influence of money. * Melville revolves the story around capitalism and hints at what capitalism does to people. The contradictions of capitalism, the importance of an individual; the right to buy, make a profit and the singularity of an individual is very significant in comparison to communism. * Corporate power contradicts individualism and it’s built into the assumption that individual needs are flawed. The individual comes second after the corporation. In the story, Melville is exploiting this paradox. * This is something that many writers were interested because wealth and capital were going crazy, and supply and demand were at its peak. There was a lot of money to be made on the basis of expansion and opportunity. Many of the great American companies were built such as Rockefeller. Melville mentions capitalists to touch on this paradox (John Jacob Astor).
Analysis
* The narrator establishes himself as a wealthy man by mentioning John Jacob Astor’s name. * Based on the narrator’s diction, “proverbially energetic” “energetic and nervous, even to turbulence”, and he says he’s “quiet”, “snug”, and “unambitious”, and says “I do not speak it in vanity” “not unemployed” “not insensible” to John Jacob Astor. * On a literal level, he is not being direct instead of saying “employed” and “I care” as a way of avoiding consequences and responsibility (double negative). He contradicts the typical wall-street capitalist; they typically like to take risks, but the narrator likes to be discreet to be inexplicit. Unemployment is evoked, but initially is contradicted for affect by planting a seed of doubt. * When he hires Bartleby, he becomes frustrated and agitated. He resents Bartleby for disrupting the flow of his tranquility. He is so compelled to write about Bartleby based on his eccentric nature. * He is very pale and scrawny, doesn’t say much; implies he is unhealthy and shows his non-conformity to Wall Street. He does not “consume” both physically and in the context of Wall Street. He almost ceases to exists, yet is capable of agitating the narrator. * Much like Bartleby’s characteristics, the office reflects certain characteristics. The space represents private/public space and he can configure the space to his liking- whether or not he wants to interact or even see Bartleby. He believes that privacy and society were conjoined, but also has to be a part of a corporation which reflects capitalism. * Turkey and Nippers are incapable and represent “half employees” and Bartleby is essentially a whole employee. Despite the frustration, Bartleby still finds him useful to the corporation. It is steadfastness which makes him significant. He seems inhuman the word “acquisition” makes him seem desensitized as an object, a robot who does work. * Bartleby never has any problems and is a “model employee” who indicates the problems within the system (Wall Street, American Capitalism). The critique of the system is what we see happening in the system; the treatment of employees as acquisitions, not individuals which runs against the American value of the individual. * Prospering, working hard is of American value but capitalism has some serious problems of people who work in the system. Melville points out that the mechanization of Bartleby reflects this issue. * The employer and many capitalists see their employees as a photocopier; they do not go for coffee or interact with others, making it difficult for the employer to work with. They expect people to work like machines, but when they do everything does not run smoothly. He is a robot, not a colleague. This is a drive towards efficiency. * Melville suggests that separating human problems and the workplace is human nature; the endless copying speaks to the main cultural anxiety directly from the capitalist sense of driving towards efficiency. Capitalism works really well when you copy something that is really successful, but true originality falls in this system. * We’re supposed to be individualistic and entrepreneurs, but Melville points out that capitalism does not operate under these ideals. From a rationalist perspective, why something original do when you can do a copy and know that people will like it such as how movies make sequels to ensure maximum profit and success. * This story anticipates the capitalist system through waste paper in copies of financial documents in the mid 1970’s. Bartleby embodies these traits; he becomes instrumental and follows these expectations of capitalism and he says “I prefer not to” when a job becomes out of his range, much like when a photocopier would be asked to do something it isn’t built to do. * The narrator alludes to this when he refers to the tranquility of his life which creates a profound state, and he is essentially is contained from the hustle and bustle of Wall Street. The way the space is laid out, the separation the “domestic” of the home, and the “space” of the market, you had to keep these two separate. You cannot intertwine either to ensure maximum efficiency. * Bartleby collapses these two systems and begins living in the office which causes frustration by Bartleby’s resistance of the capitalist system. The assumption of separating home and work is desensitizing, Melville says that it makes it difficult to see the humanity in others at work. * He is alerting the readers that the capitalist system and the home are embedded, and to disregard this would create chaos. * He does not participate in either system properly. This is how you criticize a system when the basic premise is being violated such as living in your office. The basic premise is being a good colleague and worker, but he does the opposite. He copies, but never consumes anything which disables his full participation. * “I prefer not to” reflects the lack of dynamic tasks of the individual. The lack of flexibility in fact makes him a bad worker. Bartleby’s passive aggressiveness appals the narrator. How can you argue with someone’s preference? He’s not refusing the job but doing it passively. * By copying the “preference” it begins to take hold of the domestic aspect of the story. * “I was turned into a pillar of salt” is a biblical reference to disobedience. Melville characterizes the lawyer as being disobedient rather than Bartleby, he is metaphorically being punished. By doing so, it shows the role reversal and that Bartleby is now in charge. The narrator expects total obedience and when he doesn’t receive it he becomes bewildered. * Bartleby’s passive aggressiveness including “I prefer not” and “do you not see the reason for yourself”; answering a question with a question is the ultimate passive aggressive move and is a hard question to answer. No matter how you answer it, you are backed into a corner. * Metaphorically, it is the narrator being pushed to the corner whereas Bartleby physically is in the corner. It is this passive aggressiveness that throws the human dimension of capitalism off because he doesn’t see Bartleby as a human. * Bartleby doesn’t produce anything original, doesn’t consume and just copies; he fulfills the capitalist aspect but lacks the human requirement. The narrator addresses the basic human essentials “do you pay taxes, is this property yours?” Capitalism follows the basic rules; you pay for property and they are arbitrary, and Bartleby chooses to live in the office but not to pay rent. * Melville points out that it is possible to resist the rules by pointing out the rules but there is nothing inevitable. He refuses to vacate the premises of the building, and also the premises of capitalism. Bartleby says they’re just rules. In the capitalist system, there are no alternatives to these rules and there are certain instances where you could resist these rules to show others that these rules don’t have to be obeyed but it doesn’t make us bad people. * We are allowed to question the system, but one of the big aspects of capitalism/democracy is questioning the system. It is a frustrating story because we live in a capitalist system, and we assume these rules as true. * When we’re confronted with a character like Bartleby we are thrown off by passive aggressive resistance of our everyday lives. He defies our everyday lives of capitalism. * The premise of the story is the similarity between Bartleby and the narrator; there is some sort of sympathy and understanding between the two, despite the narrator’s frustration throughout the story. We never get Bartleby’s perspective and the narrator may be projecting. This implies that capitalism is unnatural. * They’re both human beings but the capitalism flaws this relationship; the boss vs. employer relationship and humanity vs. capitalism relationship * The narrator says at the beginning that he doesn’t like capitalism and he is not corrupted by his power which he doesn’t know how to exercise. He sees the repressed humanity in Bartleby in himself.
The gothic elements of Bartleby such as the supernatural, grotesque, and unnatural way of thinking are a critique of capitalism. Some self-parodying aspects of the novel and the setting of an office make use satirical elements to criticize capitalism. There are windows that allow light in but the window faces the wall, giving the sense of being trapped, alluding to Bartleby’s unwillingness to leave. Much like Dracula, Bartleby is an unnatural character- he is grotesque in nature.