Truly, I'm not even sure where to begin with Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener. Certainly an odd sort of story...
Perhaps I am, once again, just missing the big picture. There is actually strong symbolism throughout and the story is a moving one with some amazing theme. Too bad I'm not seeing it.
"Conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling these dead letters and assorting them for the flames?"
Did Bartleby chose this earlier job because he is such a desolate character and nothing else would suit his disposition or had the buring of dead letters changed him into the man we see now? And even if the letters did have some sort of effect on Bartleby, why would they change him into a clingy strange man? Let me know...
Note: I found this website after I posted this entry early this morning. Has some interesting ideas on the story, ideas that I obviously did not pick up previously. Check it out.
Why he is clingy, Vanessa, I have absolutely no idea. That is what absolutely frustrates me too. I almost feel like the lawyer, to which I can't figure him out, and so I have pity for him. But at the same time, he absolutely irritates me. Of course you know, I would not be as nice as the lawyer was. If he told me, I would prefer not to, I would say, "I would prefer to get your butt out of here now!" Then I would give him an evil smirk, because I'm always the villain lol.
The letters, I do believe, changed him, but I think that the lawyer was not firm enough with him out of pity. Then Bartleby basically just freeloaded from there. Bartleby must be one of the most aggrevating characters in stories overall, because no one can seem to interpret what he is about.
Posted by: Jason Pugh at September 26, 2005 09:57 AMYou? Nice? No, never. Haha.
Bartleby irritated me too. (I don't know why we keep reading all these stories with irritating characters...) No way would I have been as patient as the lawyer. To keep an employee on who literally does nothing? Can't say I would have tolerated it.
I too felt slightly sorry for Bartleby- at first. "Aw, he's all poor and has to live in the office...oh wait, he's become worthless and doesn't do any work...and he's refusing to leave...never mind then." You have to wonder, or at least I do, how Melville fathomed this story idea. A Bartleby in his own life?
Posted by: Nessa at September 26, 2005 12:18 PM"There is actually strong symbolism throughout and the story is a moving one with some amazing theme."
You're pretty close to discovering it yourself, Nessa. Try reading the story in terms of satire. You might be surprised with what you find.
Posted by: Neha at September 26, 2005 02:07 PMI am presently doing a short series of blogs on Bartleby too. That guy really is infuriating! It is one of those stories that isn't *enjoyable* actually, but it has haunted me for years.
The satire thing seems to me to be the right track. But satirizing what exactly? That is a tricky question.
To me, there are 3 key phrases "A Story of Wall Street," "I'd prefer not to," and "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!" Those, to me, form keys for interpretation...
But I haven't fully figured out how the keys work, to be honest.
Anyway, that is what I am using for the structure of the analysis in my blog.
Nice you raised it here. Fun stuff.
Posted by: believin at February 7, 2006 10:05 AM