The Narrator as an Anti-Hero
Throughout the story the narrator is fighting through an internal conflict on whether or not to fire Bartleby for his behavior. At first Bartleby seemed like a great worker until Bartleby started to answer with “I would prefer not to” when asked to work. The narrator saw that there was a problem with Bartleby but when the narrator questioned Bartleby on why he does not want to work, constantly answers with “I would prefer not to”, and just stares into a daze, Bartleby refused to answer the narrator. The narrator finally decided to fire Bartleby and asked him to leave the office after debating it for most of the story. When the narrator found out that Bartleby did not leave, the narrator claimed, “Since he will not quit me, i must quit him. I will change my offices; I will move elsewhere…” Instead of acting to help Bartleby, since the narrator can see there is a problem, the narrator just left Bartleby and did not help him. This is classified as an Anti-Hero. An anti-hero sees the truth but instead of trying to help a person they just leave the person alone, trying to avoid the person with the problem like the narrator did to Bartleby.
-Joseph Morreale
I would say Bartleby is the traditional hero because at the lawyer’s firm he is given a proposition from the narrator who is the lawyer but does not accept it & replies back , “I would prefer not to.” Although he didn’t take action but simply turned it down no action is also a sign of action. As for the other scriveners who worked there did what the lawyer said and they all did good a job, the usual, but he stated, “I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener, the strangest I ever saw, or heard of.” Bartleby was great at his job but chose to be different from the other scriveners by making different choices. He rebelled in the calmest way & was awed by the narrator. Instead of the narrator getting rid of Bartleby he observes him more and going toward he is amazed – and curious of – by Bartleby .
-Bintou Samura
With a character like Bartleby, it’s a little hard to tell what kind of hero he is. To some, he might not even seem like a hero. However, in my opinion, Bartleby is a Byronic hero. In the beginning of the story, Bartleby comes off as an introvert. But as the story moves along, it becomes clear that he may be dealing with problems such as mental illness and poverty, as said by the narrator. Furthermore, throughout the story, he only speaks when spoken to, and he always answers with “I would prefer not to”. Or would deny anything asked of him, which seems like an act of rebellion. Towards the end, we find out that he used to work for the Dead Letter Office. Here is the reason why I believe Bartleby is a Byronic hero. He’s working at this job, most likely day and night trying to make a living, then all of a sudden he’s fired. He now sees life in a different perspective, he begins to defy social norms. Which is why he acts the way he does with the narrator. And as the story progresses Bartleby succumbs to nihilism, eventually, he passes away.
-Keauna
4 responses so far ↓
m.khan10 // Mar 9th 2017 at 11:57 pm
I find Joseph’s point of view interesting regarding the narrator being an anti-hero. I also wrote about the narrator but I said he was a traditional hero. However, you bring up some great points that I hadn’t thought of. After reading your post i realized that there are a few different ways you can classify the narrator.
j.moreno1 // Mar 10th 2017 at 12:30 am
Keauna, you bring up a great point when you refer to Bartleby being a Byronic character. I think the fact that you mention the term Nihilism adds on to this point you’re trying to prove. One can say that Bartleby has been ostracized by the society that he is in and therefore has to defy social norms, as you mention. It is interesting to see how each of us classifies these characters as different heroes and we try to persuade each other as to why we think that way.
MEZBAH ONU // Mar 10th 2017 at 1:17 am
I feel like all of these are good points, it can go either way, as Keauna said, its hard to tell. Like you mentioned at the end, that stands out the most to me on how he is the way he is and what makes him the hero in that sense. I like how Joseph made the narrator the anti hero, and that was something I didn’t originally think about, definitely great insight.
dy154836 // Mar 10th 2017 at 4:55 am
Bartleby fits into the characteristics of many types of heroes and this group explained how he fit into each type very well. I especially liked Keauna’s post and when you explain that he is a Byronic hero because he may be dealing with mental illness and poverty. To the narrator what he is doing, or rather not doing, is not acceptable however who decides what is acceptable in society and what is moral. That is all based on history and one’s own upbringing but there is no such thing as absolute morality or absolute truth. Bartleby may believe that the truth is working at this job or at the Dead Letter Office is harmful to oneself, that it is immoral for someone to do this type of work and thus acts upon this in what everyone else thinks as socially inappropriate.
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