Bartleby

Group Members: Radia, Elizaveta, and Mel

Comment #1 – Radia

    The narrator in “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” is illustrated as an anti-hero character. He has his own version of true reality, but he does nothing to address it. He’s accepted the same day to day routine; almost like clockwork. The narrator realizes how the business world has affected his personality. He knows the lifestyle is isolated and lonesome. Instead of seeking out something out of his comfort zone, he sticks to this same routine. The narrator describes himself as, “…I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury… all who know me, consider me an eminently safe man.” He has this job that seeks for justice, but he remains passive and rather do the bare minimum. The narrator is not a risk taker and prefers a detached environment. When Bartleby refuses to work as a copyist, the narrator does nothing to force him to get back to work or remove him from the office. Instead of standing up, the narrator runs away from this problem. He decides to move his practice to another building. The narrator convinces himself that he’s just saving himself from the trouble. Ultimately, his fear of taking risks and passive personality stops him from truly living.

Coment #2 – Mel

Bartleby is a satanic hero; a man who acts in socially inappropriate ways throughout the story “Bartleby, the Scrivener”. He acts in such socially inappropriate ways that it is noted, “Mr. B—— has turned him out of his room, and he now persists in haunting the building generally, sitting upon the banisters of the stairs by day, and sleeping in the entry by night.” Perhaps it is certain that Bartleby sees that there is no meaning to life, or he is trying to execute absolute freedom in humanity. Thus, he is acting upon it in ways that disturbs others, which will allow others to notice what he is doing and wonder why he is doing it. It is a method very similar to civil disobedience that makes people aware of their current surroundings and question their own philosophy and morals. He succeeded in this method by influencing the narrator of the story, who started to try to connect with Bartleby throughout the story. Bartleby, as a hero who saw some type of truth, acted upon it. His efforts didn’t make a difference to the world within the story, though, but it did change the narrator’s inner world.