Daniely ModestoEnglish 48A
Journal for Herman Melville
September 28, 2009
I might 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”
"Here I can cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval. To befriend Bartleby; to humor him in his strange wilfulness, will cost me little or nothing, while I lay up in my soul what will eventually prove a sweet morsel for my conscience." The narrator’s unwillingness to exercise charity and authority has finally caught up with him, and his abandoning Bartleby to a new tenant is an act of pure cowardice.
Melville story bites.com
In “Bartleby, The Scrivener,” Herman Melville writes about Bartleby, an old scrivener who the Lawyer hires for his office. The lawyer seems to be a good boss, very attentive and kind to all his employees. The lawyer describes his office and everybody how works there however, Bartleby gets later all the reader’s attention. Bartleby at first seems to be a great employee, but later he becomes an individual who refuses to be part of the society. He starts rejecting work and any other request from his boss. The lawyer always tries to help and understand what is wrong with him, but he always “prefers not to say anything”.
Bartleby in the story, starts being described as an unbalanced and aliened person, however, nobody is sure what is wrong with him. Bartleby's isolation is dangerous and it leads him to depression and his death. Bartleby is just not happy with what is going on with his life and the whole society, he does not want to be just another “copy machine” in that office. He wants to make a difference in the world, but nobody seems to understand him.
The boss in the story says "I placed his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy backyards, and bricks, but which, owning to insubsequent erections, commanded at present, no view at all, though it gave some light”. Again, Bartleby is been trapped behind another wall, reinforcing his isolation and depression. What is ironic in the story is that the boss later becomes affected for Bartleby and tries to help him. "There was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner, touched and disconnected me" claims the lawyer, trying to understand Bartleby issue with the work and life. The boss offers Bartleby to come and live in his house for a while, but as expected, he denies, as if he was giving up the world. The narrator is a kind man who treats Bartleby with sympathy and understanding, even though he does not know what is wrong with him.
In my opinion, the narrator is representing the society, which keeps telling us what to do, without giving us any choice to speak to ourselves. The boss offers him another kind of job, but he never gave him a chance to say what he really wants to do. Bartleby’s end is sad, and I believe still happens in our society when people just give up their dreams instead of “prefer not to” and speak up.
