Category Archives: 5. Comparison of two of the texts we’ve read since the midterm

Throughout Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and Bartelby the Scrivener by Herman Melville, there are several similarities in Bartelby and Harriet Jacobs. To begin, both persons are in positions of servitude to their bosses; Bartelby is employed as a copyist and Harriet is a slave. However, they both feel they have some aspect of freedom in their respective situations and do not like the idea of being controlled. Bartelby expresses his freedom and defiance when he tells his boss, “I prefer not to,” when asked repeatedly to do work-related tasks (A, 695). Here, Bartelby shows that he feels he has the freedom to do as he pleases. This behavior is also evidence of his contempt for being controlled.

Harriet also expresses her freedom when she chooses to be with a man whom she doesn’t seem to really love and admits that it is better to choose a lover who doesn’t control her. “It seems less degrading to give one’s self, than to submit to compulsion. There is something akin to freedom in having a lover who has no control over you…” (A, 779). This statement by Harriet proves her indifference for being controlled, like Bartelby.

Another connection between these two texts is the frustration expressed by Bartelby and Harriet’s bosses with their uncompromising behavior. In reaction to Bartelby refusing to requested work his boss states, “Imagine my surprise, nay, my consternation, when without moving from his privacy, Bartelby in a singularly mild, firm voice, replied, ‘I would prefer not to’” (A, 695). His boss is in such shock, that he doesn’t know what to do except to go on with his work without Bartelby’s participation. Harriet’s master, Dr. Flint, who lusts for Harriet, is enraged when hearing how she wishes to get out of enslavement: “Have I ever treated you like a negro? I have never allowed you to be punished, not even to please your mistress. And this is the recompense I get, you ungrateful girl!” (A, 777). Harriet and Bartleby’s superiors’ do not understand why their workers will not comply with their requests.

More interestingly, the behavior of Bartelby and Harriet is probably more compelling to their bosses when considering they do not cause conflict in their subtle defiance. Bartelby’s boss even states, “Had there been the least uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner….[D]oubtless I should have violently dismissed him from the premises” (A, 695). Harriet, on the other hand, never displays violent or outwardly rebellious actions towards Mr. Flint, or anyone for that matter. In summary, Bartelby and Harriet both seem to react uncooperatively to their bosses in an effort to convince their selves that they have some freedom in their state of servitude.