![]() ![]() We watch him destroy himself as he destroys Bartleby. Yet even he, bad as he is, can see the inherent rightness and verisimilitude Is the very worst kind of capitalist - intellectually soft, ideologicallyĭespicable, and a hated supporter of the monied imperialist elite. He both abandons and supports Bartleby as he is taken off to prison toĭie for his sin of rejecting the capitalist system. Knows in his heart that Bartleby is right and represents the future-so The narrator cannot destroy bartleby outright because he is weak and he The employer of course wants toįeel that he is being kind and sensitive to his work - but his pseudo-kindnessesĪnd quixotic kindnesses and cruelties to Bartleby help to destroy him. ![]() Once Bartleby has rejected the economic structure and challenged theĪuthority of his employer he must die. Senses the waves that will bring them into being in the river of history. Though he has no ideological training and precedes Marx and Hegel, Bartleby We cheer as he calmly and flatly refuses to continue with hisĭemeaning work functions. Is never sadly articulated but he presages socialism through his actions. Bartleby's righteous rejection of capitalism Office grows he becomes a threat both to the authority structure and the But as Bartleby's rejection of the activities of the lawyer's Atįirst this rebellion is poo pooed by the narrator who dismisses it as illness he refuses to perform the job functions for which he was hired. Some a priori channel begins to reject the system in which he is a key Not challenged by persuasive and objective truth. Narrator who can only thrive where his limited ideas and mentality are He is productive and servile and this pleases the weak character of the Work model which serves to denigrate the American working classes. The perfect office drone supporting the horrendous machinations of an economic Then we are presented to Bartleby - a scrivener. Incapable of imagining a fairer and more equitable economic class system. The narrator is a small man with a small mind - lost in ledger books and He even belittles them for us - demonstrating the flaws of theirĬharacters which seem far worse to him than his own terrible inadequacies. He has toads of his own who croak to his whims and Of mid 19th century New York, the narrator is intellectually unsound, ethicallyīankrupt, and lost in quasi-religious middle class fantasies about his A small financierĪnd lawyer whose legal efforts buttress the repulsive financial system Pleased at Astor's encouraging and stroking comments about his dedicationĪnd commitment to the exploitative capitalist system. The north American industrial revolution. Jacob Astor, one of the very worst of the early oligarchic exploiters of Indeed, in the first few paragraphs he mentions the name of John WeĪre first introduced to the narrator - a man who proudly identifies himselfĪs petit bourgeois and a toad of the industry owning proletarian exploitingĬlasses. In Herman Mellville's short work "Bartleby the Scrivener" we see theįirst vague stirring of the coming Socialist revolution and the overthrow One desires and makes him a truly haunting figure. This leaves the reader free to freight Bartleby with any significance Leave his patronage job in a dead letter office when administrations changed The only explanation offered for his behavior is that he was forced to Melville keeps Bartleby, like Moby Dick, shrouded in mystery. Removed by the police and starves to death in the Tombs, preferring not Including leave the building after he is fired. Not to." But in short order he is preferring not to do most anything, Bartleby mystifies his employer, our narrator, firstīy refusing to assist in proof reading documents, averring "I would prefer In which Bartleby works has windows which face the brick walls of surrounding To transcribe legal documents, and if that isn't inhuman enough, the office Has there ever been a lessĭesirable job title than scrivener? They were employed by lawyers Pieces of literature to give voice to the dehumanizing aspects of the modern In Bartleby, he may have written one of the first significant Melville is, of course, best known for his epic novel Mobyĭick, but he also wrote some great short fiction, including Billy Search the Library Catalog for the following reference titles that contain material about "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street." These titles may be available in other college or public libraries.David Sandberg has long insisted that this is a great story and, afterįinally caving in and reading it despite his recommendation, I heartilyĬoncur. ![]()
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