Throughout Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, Bartleby’s actions depict that he is an Anti-hero. An Anti hero is one who sees the truth, when others cant, however, does not act upon it. In many occasions Bartleby had made the choice to not take actions of responsibilities and commands; usually stating that he does not prefer to take such action or comply to a command. “Upon asking him why he did not write, he said that he had decided upon doing no more writing” (Melville 311). When asked why he had cease to wright, Bartleby replied saying “Do you not see the reason for yourself” (311). This part of the story depicts Bartleby’s beginning of “doing nothing”. As shown by Bartleby ‘s reply, he believes there is a rational reason for which ceasing to act as on responsibility is justified. Although, Bartleby is the only one aware of the “the truth”, he does nothing communicate it to society, or even his boss. Bartleby, is someone who did not take initiative to act upon the truth he is aware of, and instead only spoke when he was spoken to; because of this Bartleby is an Anti-hero.
6 Responses to Bartleby the Anti-Hero
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I agree with Rosshelle’s comment on how Bartleby is mostly defined as an Anti-hero but I do see some action from him that attempts to overthrow the orders and repetitions of meaningless daily routines. Bartleby seems to be taking advantage of the narrator’s “kindness” since he does not get any form of punishment whenever he says no to the demands of the narrator. Therefore his protest is only visible inside the narrator’s office and it doesn’t really reach the rest of the world. Since his minor resistance doesn’t have much impact on society as a whole, it could be concluded that he is an Anti-hero.
– Chi Z.
In Bartleby, The Scrivener, Bartleby’s actions show that he is a Satanic hero. A satanic hero is someone who sees the truth, when others cannot, and he or she acts on it, but in a socially inappropriate way. Throughout the story, he refused to do what his job is supposed to do and would bluntly refused the Lawyer’s requests. “You will not thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal – you will not thrust such a helpless creature out of your door?” (Melville 316). In this quote, the Lawyer is trying to reason with his actions because he’s been pitying Bartleby. But even him, deep inside, knows that Bartleby’s actions are inappropriate and would be in the jail on the first day he refused to do his job. However, the Lawyer kept him for so long because he thought he understood him and he thought he could helped him out. Bartleby is the only person in the story that sees the truth and although he seems like he’s not doing anything, he is inappropriately acting on it by refusing to the things he’s supposed to be doing. He’s taking an action to give up, to stop taking orders, and to not fight back. Those are the choices that he made, so in my opinion he’s acting on it inappropriately.
Crystal Wong
In Bartleby, The Scrivener, the narrator’s kindness may seem like the morally sound choice, yet he is in fact a Satanic Hero. A satanic hero is one who sees the truth when others cannot, and then reacts to that truth, yet in a socially inappropriate way. The narrator allows Bartleby to consistently engage in damaging behaviors, both to himself and the narrator’s work environment. After repeatedly being faced with Bartleby’s blatant insubordination, the narrator muses, “But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me.” Even after he found out that Bartleby had been living in his office, the narrator was still so fascinated by the man’s gall that he could not bring himself to intervene and possibly help Bartleby. The narrator’s affection towards Bartleby clouded his judgment, and he therefore made no effort to rectify Bartleby’s insubordination. Although the view of the narrator as a satanic hero might register as overly critical, enablement is something that often disguises itself as good samaritan-ship, and if executed correctly, the proper guidance could have helped Bartleby avoid his tragic demise.
I can see perfectly the reasoning for how Bartleby is the anti-hero in the novel. As the anti-hero is one who sees the truth when others don’t but does nothing, this can be a clear interpretation of Bartleby. Bartleby can be interpreted as very lazy as he declines to do a lot of work and stays in the office all the time. His choice to be against all actions may be because he sees a negative truth in the world that others do not. I also agree with how Bartleby can be considered a anti-hero because he does not take the initiative to act upon the truth he sees and how he only speaks when spoken to. He seems to have a very complex understanding of the world that causes him to shut himself off from everyone.
-Sabera Qazi
I agree with Crystal’s comment. I believe that Bartleby leans more towards the satanic hero than the anti-hero. I definitely can see how he could be the anti-hero by not making a choice or not be doing anything especially since he sees the truth. While there are times where Bartleby does not do anything, there are times in which he does do something and often it is not appropriate for the situation which makes him the satanic hero. Along with this Bartleby is having a negative impact overall to everyone around him, especially the narrator.
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