Bartleby the….(Non)..(Satanic/Byronic)..(Anti)..Hero

The character Bartleby is not a hero in any way. He is an extremely lazy character who does not care for others or care for himself. He has care free attitude towards all things. To define someone as a hero requires heroic actions from that character, and Bartleby presents none. He is a depressed character who would stare at a brick wall all day if he could. To argue that Bartleby is a hero, is not only wrong, but is completely absurd. Bartleby lives and dies a pointless life on his own. He only had one person who ever cared for him, the narrator.
-William Dayan

Bartleby can be considered a Satanic/Byronic hero in the book. A Byronic hero is someone who sees the truth, when others cannot, and he acts on it, but in a socially inappropriate way. This is a perfect definition of Bartleby’s character as we can see in the underlying meaning of his actions throughout the story. Bartleby’s character is one of mystery, as at first he seems like a diligent worker, however as time goes on he does less and less work and seems to be getting more and more depressed. Whenever he is asked to work, or is asked a question he uses the classic line of “I would prefer not to.” Through his politeness of decline, we can see that Bartleby may have a sense of what may be right and wrong. Perhaps he was declining not out of laziness, but to go against something he did not deem right. It is inferable that Bartleby’s actions of keeping to himself and staying in the office are clear signs of depression, which could be a result of him realizing the downsides of living his life and working on wall street. His declining words could be a way he acts on attempting to break free from the depressions of his life, however because it can be considered socially inappropriate to constantly decline your boss and not do anything else, Bartleby never does get anywhere in his life. Yet, Bartleby can be considered the Satanic/Byronic hero of the novel.
-Sabera Qazi

Bartleby, the scrivener, the “deranged”, can be considered to be a anti-hero. An anti-hero is someone who sees the truth when others don’t, but does nothing. In the case of Bartleby the truth can be considered of something to do with his, and others, meaning in life. When he first starts working for the narrator he is said to have been an exemplary worker, with the only problem being he would “prefer” not to do anything else, no matter how big or little it may be. Eventually however he stops working altogether, and when asked why he says “Do you not see the reason for yourself,’ He indifferently replied. I looked steadfastly at him, and perceived that his eyes looked dull and glazed”(311). Bartleby acknowledges that there is some sort of reasoning for his refusal to do anything else, but he prefers not to say what reasoning it is, simply that it should be obvious to everyone what it is. In this instance he has taken a step towards being an anti-hero, he has seen the truth when others don’t. At the same time it appears that he is being physically affected by discovering this truth. His dull and glazed eyes, perhaps his realization of this truth has paralyzed Bartleby, this would be his next step into becoming an anti-hero. When the narrator offers various other job positions to Bartleby, Bartleby says that he would “prefer not to make any change.” At this point he has fully become an anti-hero, he knows the truth but does nothing about it. He does not try to change his life, nor does he try to make others try to see his way, he prefers not to do anything about it, this static stance ultimately leads to his demise.
-Brian Baigorria