11/11 notes

Herman Melville: “Bartleby, The Scrivener”

The provided text is an excerpt from the story "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street," narrated by an elderly, prudent lawyer who hires a new law-copyist named Bartleby. The narrator first describes his existing eccentric employees—Turkey, who is reliable in the morning but rowdy and error-prone after lunch, and Nippers, who is irritable in the morning but calmer in the afternoon—before introducing the titular character. Bartleby initially works diligently, but soon begins to refuse simple tasks and even core duties, perpetually replying, "I would prefer not to." Despite the staff’s frustration, the narrator, conflicted between anger and pity, struggles to dismiss the passive scrivener, eventually moving his office only to find Bartleby still haunting the old building, which leads to Bartleby's inevitable removal by the police and his death in prison.

The narrator's essential ethical dilemma regarding Bartleby's passive resistance—encapsulated by the phrase "I would prefer not to"—is the conflict between his commitment to prudence, professional ease, and self-interest versus the demands of common humanity, charity, and conscience.

As a lawyer who values "the easiest way of life", "prudence," and "method", the narrator initially seeks to maintain "cool tranquillity". Bartleby's passive refusals, however, create an unprecedented challenge that forces the narrator to confront his moral responsibilities.

1. The Call to Charity and Pity

The narrator finds himself powerfully disarmed and "touched and disconcerted" by Bartleby’s "singularly mild, firm voice" and composed demeanor, which lacked any "uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence". His initial instinct is charitable:

• Humanitarian Bond: Upon discovering that Bartleby is living secretly in his office, suffering from "miserable friendlessness and loneliness", the narrator is seized by a feeling of "overpowering stinging melancholy". He feels an "irresistibly" drawing "bond of a common humanity" with Bartleby, noting that they are both "sons of Adam".

• Conscience and Self-Approval: The narrator reasons that if he turns Bartleby away, the scrivener will likely encounter a "less indulgent employer" and be "rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve". By indulging Bartleby’s "strange wilfulness," he realizes he can "cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval" and lay up a "sweet morsel for my conscience".

• The Divine Injunction: When the narrator is tempted by "old Adam of resentment" and thoughts of violence toward Bartleby, he checks himself by recalling the "divine injunction: 'A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another'". He sees charity as a "wise and prudent principle—a great safeguard to its possessor".

2. The Retreat to Prudence and Repulsion

Despite the initial surge of pity, Bartleby's continued immobility and refusal to be "reasonable" eventually shift the balance away from charity, intensifying the ethical difficulty:

• Threat to Professional Life: Bartleby's behavior worries the narrator because it denies his authority, perplexes professional visitors, and threatens to "scandaliz[e] my professional reputation". This constant friction, caused by the "unsolicited and uncharitable remarks" of others, begins to wear out his "best resolves".

• Shift from Pity to Repulsion: The narrator observes that Bartleby's suffering appears to be an "innate and incurable disorder," and he determines that he can give "alms to his body; but his body did not pain him; it was his soul that suffered, and his soul I could not reach". His initial melancholy and "sincerest pity" merge into "fear"and "repulsion" as the forlornness grows.

• The Practical Impossibility: The dilemma culminates in the question: "What shall I do? what ought I to do? what does conscience say I should do with this man, or rather ghost"? The narrator finds he cannot "thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal," out the door, as this would "dishonor [him]self by such cruelty". Yet, he must rid himself of the "intolerable incubus".

The narrator's dilemma is that Bartleby’s harmless yet absolute passivity renders standard punitive or authoritative measures impossible without violating the narrator's own sense of decency and common humanity. He is trapped between the moral imperative to help a suffering human being and the practical, professional necessity of maintaining a functioning office and "easy way of life".

The narrator's situation is like a methodical gardener trying to maintain a perfectly neat, walled-off garden (his prudent life), only to find an immovable, silent stone growing in the center. The stone does no harm, but its presence ruins the planned order. To violently remove it would require destroying the garden’s tranquility (violating conscience), but to leave it means sacrificing the garden’s intended function and purpose (professional ruin).

A Synthesis of "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street"

Executive Summary

This document provides a comprehensive analysis of the key characters, themes, and narrative progression presented in the excerpts from "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street." The story, narrated by an elderly Wall Street lawyer, chronicles the arrival and subsequent decline of a mysterious law-copyist named Bartleby. Initially a model of productivity, Bartleby soon begins to exhibit a profound passive resistance, responding to any request outside of pure copying with the immutable phrase, "I would prefer not to." This simple refusal systematically dismantles the office's routines and challenges the narrator's worldview, which is founded on a principle that "the easiest way of life is the best."

The narrative explores themes of alienation and isolation within the sterile, confining environment of modern commercial life, symbolized by the office's "dead brick wall" views. As Bartleby's refusals escalate, the narrator's response cycles through consternation, pity, irritation, fear, and a sense of fraternal responsibility. Bartleby's utter inscrutability and solitude—he lives secretly in the office on a diet of ginger-nuts—forces the narrator to confront the limits of charity and reason. Ultimately, the narrator's inability to manage Bartleby's passive resistance leads him to abandon his own office. Bartleby is eventually removed to the Tombs prison as a vagrant, where he perishes, refusing to eat. A concluding rumor about his prior employment in the Dead Letter Office offers a poignant, though unconfirmed, explanation for his "pallid hopelessness," culminating in the narrator's lament: "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!"

The Narrator and His Chambers

The Narrator's Philosophy and Profession

The story is recounted by a man who describes himself as "rather elderly" and has spent thirty years in contact with law-copyists, or scriveners. His personal philosophy is explicitly stated: he holds a "profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best." This belief has shaped his professional career.

• Profession: He is an "unambitious lawyer" who avoids juries and public applause, preferring to "do a snug business among rich men’s bonds and mortgages and title-deeds" from the "cool tranquillity of a snug retreat."

• Reputation: He is considered an "eminently safe man." The late, prominent financier John Jacob Astor identified his primary characteristics as "prudence" and "method."

• Temperament: He seldom loses his temper or indulges in "dangerous indignation," valuing peace and order above all else. His one noted outburst of indignation concerns the "sudden and violent abrogation of the office of Master in Chancery," a remunerative position he had held and "counted upon a life-lease of the profits."

The Wall Street Environment

The physical setting of the law office is a critical component, reflecting a sense of confinement and desolation.

• Location: The chambers are located at "No. — Wall-street."

• Views: The windows offer no connection to nature or "life."

  • One end looks upon the "white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft."

  • The other end commands an "unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and everlasting shade," situated a mere ten feet from the window panes. The space between the buildings resembles a "huge square cistern."

• Atmosphere: When empty, the building is profoundly desolate. The narrator notes that on a Sunday, "Wall-street is deserted as Petra," and his office "echoes with sheer vacancy."

The Office Staff: Studies in Manageable Eccentricity

Prior to Bartleby's arrival, the narrator's staff consists of three clerks, whose predictable eccentricities create a balanced, if unusual, work environment.

The narrator observes that the cyclical nature of his two primary scriveners' moods creates a "good natural arrangement," as "Their fits relieved each other like guards. When Nippers’ was on, Turkey’s was off; and vice versa."

The Arrival and Enigma of Bartleby

Bartleby's introduction fundamentally disrupts the office's established order.

First Impressions and Initial Work Ethic

Bartleby appears at the office threshold in response to an advertisement.

• Appearance: He is described as a "motionless young man... pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn!"

• Initial Placement: The narrator places him in a corner on his own side of the office's folding-doors, behind a "high green folding screen" that provides both "privacy and society." His window offers "no view at all," looking out onto a brick wall just three feet away.

• Productivity: At first, Bartleby performs an "extraordinary quantity of writing," seeming to "gorge himself on my documents." He works day and night, but does so "silently, palely, mechanically."

• assert individuality by prefering not to 

• dead letters eco back o his isolation/ dead letter no one to send up represent life sucum to capitalism

. My Srst emotions had been those of pure

melancholy and sincerest pity; but just in proportion as the forlornness of

Bartleby grew and grew to my imagination, did that same melancholy merge

into fear, that pity into repulsion. So true it is, and so terrible too, that up to

a certain point the thought or sight of misery enlists our best affections; but,

in certain special cases, beyond that point it does not.

The Emergence of Passive Resistance

The central conflict begins on Bartleby's third day of employment, when the narrator asks him to help examine a copied document, a standard scrivener's task.

• The First Refusal: Bartleby replies, without moving, in a "singularly mild, firm voice, 'I would prefer not to.'"

• The Narrator's Reaction: The narrator is stunned, experiencing "surprise, nay, my consternation." He questions whether his ears deceived him. Bartleby's calm, composed demeanor prevents the narrator from dismissing him violently, as he notes, "I should have as soon thought of turning my pale plaster-of-paris bust of Cicero out of doors."

• Escalation: Bartleby soon extends this refusal to the examination of his own copies, despite the narrator's reasoning about common usage and labor-saving. His reply remains the same: "I would prefer not to."

This passive resistance expands to encompass all duties beyond copying, including running a simple errand to the post office or summoning another clerk.

Core Themes and Conflicts

The Nature of "Preference"

Bartleby's signature phrase is the engine of the story's conflict. It is not an aggressive or insolent refusal but a statement of personal preference. This unique formulation repeatedly disarms the narrator.

• It is delivered in a "mild, firm voice" or a "flute-like tone."

• The narrator perceives that Bartleby has fully comprehended the requests but that "some paramount consideration prevailed with him to reply as he did."

• The phrase proves contagious, as the narrator finds himself "involuntarily using this word 'prefer' upon all sorts of not exactly suitable occasions," fearing that his contact with Bartleby is mentally affecting him.

• passive resistance under capitalism —> downfall of humanity

The Narrator's Evolving Response

The story is driven by the narrator's internal struggle to comprehend and manage Bartleby. His feelings progress through several distinct stages:

1. Disbelief and Confusion: Initially, he is simply baffled by the refusal, which defies "common usage and common sense."

2. Pity and Charity: Upon discovering that Bartleby is living in the office, his first emotion is "overpowering stinging melancholy." He feels a "bond of a common humanity" and resolves to befriend Bartleby, seeing it as a way to "cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval" and lay up a "sweet morsel for my conscience."

3. Irritation and Aggravation: Bartleby's passivity at times "irritated" him. He feels "strangely goaded on to encounter him in new opposition, to elicit some angry spark from him."

4. Fear and Repulsion: As the full extent of Bartleby's condition becomes apparent, the narrator's feelings shift. He concludes Bartleby is "the victim of innate and incurable disorder." He states, "...just in proportion as the forlornness of Bartleby grew and grew to my imagination, did that same melancholy merge into fear, that pity into repulsion."

5. Resignation and Predestination: For a time, the narrator reads works on philosophical necessity and resigns himself to his fate, concluding that "Bartleby was billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all-wise Providence" and that his mission is to "furnish you with office-room."

6. Abandonment: Under pressure from professional acquaintances scandalized by Bartleby's presence, the narrator's resolve breaks. He ultimately concludes, "Since he will not quit me, I must quit him," and moves his offices.

Isolation and Dehumanization

version of his own civil disobedience/take control of whatever little control he has left/capture the time period of writng charater bartleby

Bartleby embodies a state of profound alienation.

• Physical Solitude: He isolates himself behind a screen in his "hermitage." Upon discovering Bartleby living in the office, the narrator is struck by his condition: "What miserable friendlessness and loneliness are here revealed! His poverty is great; but his solitude, how horrible!"

• Minimalist Existence: He appears to subsist entirely on ginger-nuts and never leaves the office. He engages in no leisure activities, such as reading a newspaper.

• "Dead-Wall Reveries": He spends long periods standing and staring out his window at the "dead brick wall." This becomes his primary activity after he ceases copying altogether.= is he burnt out?

The Final Stages and Aftermath

The Failure of Removal and Confinement

The narrator's attempts to rid himself of Bartleby are consistently thwarted by the scrivener's passive immovability. Even after the narrator moves his chambers, Bartleby remains on the premises, "haunting the building." The new tenants hold the narrator responsible, forcing him to confront Bartleby one last time. He offers Bartleby various jobs and even invites him into his own home, but every offer is met with a version of "I would prefer not to."

Finally, the building's landlord has Bartleby arrested as a vagrant and removed to the Halls of Justice, known as "the Tombs." Bartleby "offered not the slightest obstacle, but in his pale unmoving way, silently acquiesced."

Death in the Tombs

The narrator visits Bartleby in the prison yard, where he finds him "standing all alone... his face towards a high wall." Bartleby refuses to speak with him, saying, "I know you... and I want nothing to say to you." The narrator arranges for a "grub-man" to provide him with better food, but Bartleby refuses the offer to dine, stating, "I am unused to dinners."

On a subsequent visit, the narrator finds Bartleby dead at the base of a wall. The grub-man asks if he lives without dining, to which the narrator replies, "Lives without dining," and closes Bartleby's eyes, murmuring that he is now "With kings and counsellors."

The Dead Letter Office Rumor

The narrator concludes the story with a "vague report" he heard months after Bartleby's death.

• The Rumor: Bartleby had been a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letter Office in Washington, D.C., and was abruptly removed after a change in administration.

• The Narrator's Interpretation: The narrator finds this rumor strangely suggestive, imagining the soul-crushing effect of "continually handling these dead letters, and assorting them for the flames." He reflects on the contents of such letters: a ring for a finger that "moulders in the grave," charity for one who "nor eats nor hungers any more," and "pardon for those who died despairing." He concludes that these letters, sent "on errands of life," ultimately "speed to death." This potential origin for Bartleby's "pallid hopelessness" prompts his final, universal cry: "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!"