The narrator in “Bartleby, the Scrivener” can be interpreted to represent a Traditional Hero as described by Campbell and Aristotle. The traditional hero can be explained as a hero who sees the truth when most of the other people cannot and the person acts on it. In the middle of the story, the narrator comes to a realization over why Bartleby continually acts strange when he is present in the office. The narrator goes on to say, “For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me…The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom,”. The event that led the narrator to say this was when he noticed that Bartleby was all alone and did not have a place to call his own. He slept in the offices yet he remained humble about his situation, never asking for more money or trying to get someone to show him sympathy. In this case, the narrator is a hero because he sees the truth, which is the realization that Bartleby did not have anyone or anything, and he acts on it. His actions included not throwing him out of the office and they also included him letting Bartleby stay in his premises for a longer period of time.
- Jorge Moreno
The title character Bartleby in “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, upon analysis, can be seen as an Anti-Hero. An anti-hero is, by definition, a character that sees circumstances or misfortunes that other cannot and takes action by means that most would view as socially unacceptable or even illegal. The most compelling quote that supports this statement would be one that is repeated over and over again and can be viewed almost as Bartleby’s “catchphrase”. “I would prefer not to,” Bartleby says multiple times throughout the course of the short story in response to the many tasks that the narrator asks him to complete. Taking an insightful approach, one could say that Bartleby’s unfortunate circumstances are an example of humanity as a whole. He works an unfulfilling job as a copier, repeating the routines of life, and going nowhere still. However, rather than take a positive approach and attempting to achieve more, or find more purpose, Bartleby chooses to take a silent stand. It’s still a “heroic” action since Bartleby is more or less protesting what he believes to be unjust or not right, however by normal standards, the means in which he goes about this is wrong and even ends with his death.
- Aly Yoon
Both my group members make good points about each character and what kind of hero they are. Although I believe the narrator in “Bartleby, the Scrivener” is no hero at all. Throughout the story Bartleby continues to act nonchalantly and without purpose. The narrator just watches and keeps allowing him to do this without any help or inspiration to do more. Soon he just gives up on Bartleby and wants him to fend for himself: “but, really, the man you allude to is nothing to me-he is no relation or apprentice of mine, that you should hold me responsible for him”. If the narrator was a hero he would be able to see the truth of Bartleby but even if he couldn’t see it, a hero would have tried to help out and not give up so easily. Although he tried to help in the beginning and in the end, the narrator should not have given up, no matter what. Some can argue that he did see the truth when others couldn’t see it, but around the time he was being kicked out the narrator shared the same point of view as the people around him.
- Preston Cheung
4 responses so far ↓
j.yatcha // Mar 10th 2017 at 12:19 pm
Jorge explains that the lawyer sees the truth when he realizes Bartleby does go home. The layer, however, never truly venture to find out what Bartleby situation is. We don’t know why Bartleby prefers not to leave and I would argue its because no one took the initiative to press Bartleby and find out his story. I don’t see the lawyer as hero because I believe he didn’t actually take the steps to find out the true truth.
s.domosi // Mar 10th 2017 at 12:22 pm
I think that Jorge’s response is very insightful because before reading his post I did not think of the narrator as a traditional hero. The narrator does have a hero-like sympathy for Bartleby throughout the whole story. Jorge citing a quote that mentions “common humanity” is very thoutfll because it directly connects to the last line of the story “Oh Bartleby! Oh Humanity!” These two quotes connect how the narrator does have much sympathy for other and wants to help humanity which could be the main reason he did not fire Bartleby even though he wasn’t doing his job.
r.klamen // Mar 10th 2017 at 12:44 pm
I loved reading Jorge’s response about the Narrator being a traditional hero. I previously was unsure myself if I would consider him a hero, but after reading this post I would agree with Jorge. I like that you pointed out how his empathy, compassion and generosity to Bartleby when perhaps no one else saw his pain and definitely no one else helped him, made him a hero. According to the definition, that is what a hero is in fact- seeing the truth and acting on it. In that case, any of us who sees someone in need and helps them out, is in fact a hero. Kind of makes you want to go out and help people, right?
m.santos4 // Mar 10th 2017 at 12:47 pm
Although I did argue that Bartleby is a traditional hero, Preston Cheung makes interesting points. He argues that the narrator is no hero at all. Bartleby stood up to social norms by disregarding any tasks or requests the Lawyer (his superior) asked him to do so, but one can view this action as lazy and insubordinate behavior. The narrator of the story, like Preston argued, should have not given up on Bartleby so easily and “helped” him out. Bartleby would not do any work compared to his other associates (Nippers, Turkey, and Ginger Nuts) who although they do not do the work as proficiently, get it done. I do agree with Preston that the narrator should not have given up.
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