Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street -A Literary Analysis

Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener is a short story written in the mid 1850’s. This story has an underlying theme that has implications that affect the people of today as much as the time it was written. In this story Bartleby represents a new consumer or leisure class. Bartleby presents a lax attitude towards work, in contrast to the narrator who clearly embodies the Protestant Ethic of work and charity. Through these characters, Melville shows the deterioration of society, as this new class has no respect for the old ways.  

            Bartleby comes into the narrators employ and in the beginning he is a very productive employee. Bartleby spends the entire day focused on his work. “At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famishing for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light” (par.18). He never even takes time to leave for lunch.” I observed that he never went to dinner; indeed that he never went any where” (par. 51). This is how most people begin their working career. They are focused hard working and enjoy the fruits of the labor. People get pleasure from performing well and getting recognition for their effort. This is something that separates man from animals. The need to be appreciated for who you are and what you do, is a desire that drives most and has moved the human species to progress forward to advance with technology, literature, relationships, and much more from the time man was placed on this earth.

            Another trait that separates man from animal is a sense of charity. Besides the optimistic feeling one gets from working hard and succeeding, is having the ability to help those that are less fortunate. This rewarding feeling comes from lending a hand to those that truly deserve this charity. Yes, people want to assist those who deserve it but there is also a feeling of accomplishment that one gets for providing the charity that may spur them to do these good deeds.

            Hard work and charity are two traits that the narrator, in Bartleby, the Scrivener, possesses. He has built a successful scrivener business on honesty and his work ethic. His clients are wealthy people who are very particular about whom they trust with their legal documents. This trust is something that is not just given to a person, it is earned. It is earned by hard work and accountability. The narrator has built his office to a size where he requires the assistance of employees. Unfortunately, his employees do not share his same work ethic. Regarding Turkey he said “in the afternoon he was disposed, upon provocation, to be slightly rash with his tongue, in fact, insolent.”(par.6). Regarding Nippers he states” The indigestion seemed betokened in an occasional nervous testiness and grinning irritability, causing the teeth to audibly grind together over mistakes committed in copying; unnecessary maledictions, hissed, rather than spoken, in the heat of business; and especially by a continual discontent with the height of the table where he worked.” (par. 11) The narrator shows his compassion and charity for his fellow man by allowing them to stay in his employ. He also shows his charity by employing a young boy whose fathers had passed. “Ginger Nut, the third on my list, was a lad some twelve years old. His father was a carman, ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead of a cart, before he died. So he sent him to my office as student at law, errand boy, and cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week” (par.14).

            Mr. Melville uses an employee of the narrator, Bartleby, as a representation of what has gone wrong with society. The sense of hard work and charity has gone away. Bartleby comes into the narrator’s life and after initially earning his trust and compassion, begins to take advantage of the man who has looked out for his best interest.  “Bartleby,” said I, “are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?” (par.193) It is this sense of entitlement that has plagued societies who try to incorporate charity and welfare towards its people. It is not all of those that receive charity that fall into this category but the ones that do make it difficult for those who do and more expensive for those who pay into it. These people believe that they are entitled to handouts from those who are more fortunate, or better said as those who work harder and benefit from their labor.  “Now one of two things must take place. Either you must do something, or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for some one?” “No; I would prefer not to make any change.” (par. 197)

            For a society to prosper there is a need for charity. This charity must be for those that are in real need of the assistance. Those who are physically or mentally disabled and those who may need help for a short time to get back on their feet. But to allow people who are able to work and provide for themselves to take advantage of this welfare is a crime and will lead to the death of the society and its charity, like it killed Bartleby. “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!” (par 251).

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street

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   “Imprimis: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best.”(3) This is a statement made by the narrator early on in the story. By trying to live his life without confrontation, without being the center of attention, and by placing himself within an occupation without much chance of anything invading his peace, the narrator ironically lives a life that is completely the opposite of what he desires. This is a form of situational irony. Most of the turmoil in his life is caused by his mindset of not wanting any disruption.  

                          The narrator is owner of a scrivener office with four employees. One of his employees is given the nickname Turkey. This individual is a good worker for the first half of the day. But by the afternoon he is drunk and unable to perform his duties. The narrator would like to fire this employee and replace him with a more productive employee. To avoid any confrontation and any inconvenience for the employee he allows Turkey to stay, even though he will cause more problems in the long run. Another employee of the narrator goes by the nickname Nippers. A nipper is not very productive during the first half of the day but gets his work done during the second half. It seems as though he may be running some sort of a side business during his working hours at the office. It may or may not be an illegal side business. Again the instead of confronting his employee regarding these model employee deficiencies, he allows them to occur. This is another example his want for the easy way is making his life more problematic. The direst consequences of his aspiration for an easy life comes by the way he manages his relationship with Bartleby.  By allowing Bartleby to continue you to stay without working and not confronting him in an assertive appropriate manner it not only caused much mayhem but may have cost Bartleby his life.

                          By looking for the easy way out in the short term you may be setting yourself up for a much harder situation in the long term.  This attitude can lead to circumstances that have adverse consequences not only for the person looking for the easy way but for other people they are in contact with. It is best to take care of situations as they arise no matter how difficult it may seem. Because what may come of the problem since it was not taken care of appropriately initially it may increase the hardship ten fold. For more information on the life and works of Herman Melville click here.

Summary vs. Analysis

           Summary and analysis are both important tools used when writing an analytical essay but these are two very different tools. When writing an essay it is important to refresh the reader on the subject of which you are writing and to point out specific events of the story, also known as summary. These events are used to give credence to your personal argument and substantiate your line of reasoning, also know as analysis.

Summary is a brief overview of a writing, movie, or event. Summary is an essential instrument used when analyzing a subject, but it is not an analysis. Summary sticks to the facts of a story. It does not give the writer of the summary’s opinion of what the possible underlying meaning of the story is. It does not dig deep into what the story is really trying to convey.

Analysis is a much more detailed evaluation of a subject than a summary. Analysis is the essay writer’s attempt to find what the author is trying to convey. An analysis can be an argued point regarding the essay writer’s understanding of the story or a portion of the story. Click here for more information regarding “Summary vs. Analysis”.

            Avatar is a story that has a many undertones that lead you to believe that the author is comparing the mining and overtaking of a planet to America’s war in Iraq. The way the story is told puts a negative light on the invaders of this planet as capitalist who will rape this planet of its natural resources for its own gains. It shows the invaders committing crimes and genocide against the inhabitants. This seems the feelings of many people who are against the war in Iraq. By reading deeper into the meaning of what the author is saying you are analyzing the story, where as to summarize this story would not leave the reader with a point to argue but just a retelling of a shorter version of Avatar.

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"A Modest Proposal."

Jonathan Swift's essay, "A Modest Proposal."

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1. What is the problem that Swift identifies in his society?  What does he want to do about it?

Jonathan Swift identifies the problem of poverty within his country of Ireland in the 1700s. Mr. Swift’s plan to relieve his country of this difficult burden is to use the children of poor families as food. His plan includes the raising of these children up to one year of age and then slaughtering them, like swine or cattle, to alleviate the need to care for them, to use them as a commodity, and to provide food for the people of his country.  

2.  Is his suggestion serious?  If not, what is the purpose?  What is he making fun of?

I do not believe that Mr. Swift is being serious in this essay. His purpose may be to get the people of his country to sit down and critically think about a way to remedy this dilemma. I suppose that Mr. Swift is making fun of his government and others who have tried to fix these problems with little to no success. It seems that he feels their ideas have been so absurd that there would be no other way to get their attention then by going to extent of slaughtering their children to rectify the situation.

3.  Is his solution logical?  What kind of evidence does he give to support his position?
I do not feel that his suggestion is a logical solution to the problem. For hundreds of years since this essay was written, scholars and economist have struggled to find a solution to poverty and they have yet to succeed. Click here for a link to a website that shows what people today are doing to fight poverty.  Mr. Swift provides a good deal of evidence to support his position. He uses the fact that there would be less children to provide for and that the children who were born, would be a benefit in the way cattle can provide for a family. He also states that this would increase marriage and decrease abuse of woman from their husbands. He does give a good argument even though he is not serious in his writing.