“Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville in which there are two main characters, Bartleby and his boss, the narrator. I believe Bartleby is a satanic hero because he sees reality, his reality and instead of talking or asking for help he decides to act in a childish inappropriate way. Out of nowhere, Bartleby decided he would not work anymore and he answers with what became his perpetual response, “I would prefer not to.” It is obvious he has his own reasons but the way he did it is wrong. Instead of opening up and speaking about whatever was bothering him or even asking for help he stopped working and stopped talking without giving any proper reason. In a professional relationship is socially inappropriate and I do not think he conducted in a correct way and even though his boss could have done more it was not his responsibility or his role.
- Joaquin
Bartleby is an interesting character with little to say but with a lot of meaning behind it. He prefers not to do much but there’s a hint of logic, mystery and purity behind his actions. The narrator himself goes back and forth on how he feels and he slowly understands certain things about Bartleby. At first the narrator only sees the big picture which is he hired an employee for this copyist job at his Wall Street firm. Slowly he finds out more details, the truth, such as Bartleby living in the workplace. Even though the narrator thought about helping Bartleby he ends up trying to fire him. Here the narrator is see the truth and thinks the solution is to fire Bartleby. “The time has come; you must quit this place;…” he tells him to leave and pays him off. I find both characters to be Satanic Heroes for that reason. They both mean well but Bartleby’s peculiar behavior is not justified in how he treats certain task/request while the narrator is willing to change his own office space just to get rid of an employee to help him move on.
-Onu Mezbah
In Herman Melville’s short story Bartleby the Scriviner, the protagonist, Bartleby is a classic example of an anti-hero. An anti-hero is one who lacks heroic attributes. This story symbolizes the classic middle-class struggles society faces. Workers who don’t have a choice but to work the typical 9-5 schedule like many others. It is a tragedy in the sense that the protagonist’s ultimate sufferings and later, death. Bartleby does not have any heroic attributes that a hero might possess. When the author first introduces him in the story, it seems as if he is a nobody. For example, the author states “A motionless young man one morning stood upon my office threshold, the door being open, for it was summer. I can see that figure now pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn! It was Bartleby.” Bartleby therefore is not a tragic hero but rather an anti-hero. Reason being is because he mysteriously imposes his hardships for mysterious purposes that the author does not state. He might have been suffering through mental disabilities or other issues. Overall, he is one of the most isolated characters in the story.
- Farhan Zaman
1 response so far ↓
yy155739 // Mar 10th 2017 at 1:04 pm
Joaquin, I agree with your saying that Bartleby is much like a Satanic Hero. By definition, this means that he sees what others cannot and then, as you said, “instead of talking or asking for help he decides to act in a childish inappropriate way”. I think this is a very appropriate analysis of the kind of character that Bartleby is playing and that perhaps it’s what Melville was trying to display about society as a whole. The quote you used “I prefer not to” was also the perfect example for his being a satanic hero.
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