Rysen Barnett
2/26/12
English
102
Essay
#2
Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street Literary Analysis
“Bartleby,
the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street” is a complex piece that depicts the
lives primarily of five men. These men are nicknamed Nippers, Turkey, Ginger
Nut, Bartleby and of course the narrator. The narrator employs the other men
who are scriveners within his office in “No.-Wall Street.” The problem or irony
with all these men is that they all come with assets as well as liabilities.
Nippers for example, often has terrible indigestion while Turkey is an
alcoholic. Ginger Nut simply derives his name for the fact that he delivers
small cakes to the office. Bartleby is the last scrivener to be hired in the
story and he, by the narrator’s hopes, is hired to hopefully bring balance to
the office and all the odd ball employees. Bartleby however does not do this
and in fact brings about the destruction of order within the office. Bartleby
is a representation of a new consumer or leisure class. He presents a lax
attitude towards work, in contrast to the narrator who clearly embodies the
Protestant Ethic of work and charity. Through these characters, Melville shows
the deterioration of society, as this new class has no respect for the old ways.
As mentioned the employees each have
their own unique flaws. These flaws are in many ways a reflection on how the
work class has deteriorated from what it used to be. For example, Nippers has
awful indigestion. He is often in a good mood for one half of the day and in a
grouchy mood the next. Turkey is a drunk who in the same manner is pleasant one
half of the day, rude and out of line the other. These employees have problems
that are not uncommon to people of all generations. However, the difference I feel
here is the manner in which they deal with them. These issues are personal
problems that although may be tolerated, should not be “dealt with” in the
workplace. These employees bring all their baggage with them when they come to
work and astonishingly the narrator who is the employer puts up with it. From
an employee standpoint these negative qualities are unacceptable and a decline
from previous standards of job integrity in the workplace.
On another note you have Bartleby.
In many accounts Bartleby seems to be the ideal employee. “One prime thing was
this,—he was always there;—first in the morning, continually through the
day, and the last at night. I had a singular confidence in his honesty.
(Melville 84).” Bartleby was the one employee whom the narrator could trust. He
was to say the least a diligent hard worker. Until one day the narrator asks
Bartleby to do a miniscule task for him and Bartleby replies, “I would prefer
not to. (Melville 21).” This is the first instance in a long series of refusals
in which Bartleby objects to doing tasks for his employer. At first is minor
piece of work such as looking over a paper, reading a document, or picking up
mail. Although, eventually the refusals grow substantially to the point where
Bartleby is more running the narrator then the narrator is in charge of him.
Bartleby even reaches the point where in a few instances he refuses to do the
scrivener’s tasks he was hired to do. This shows a complete disrespect for his
own job as well as his employer. Bartleby quickly went from being the ideal
employee to one thought of with much scorn and strife.
Bartleby’s objecting to doing tasks
his employer asked of him had a snowball effect to the other employees. After
sometime Nippers and Turkey began getting increasingly angry at the remarks from
Bartleby of “I would prefer not to. (Melville 21).” It got to the point where
Turkey being the drunk that he is, said of Bartleby, “I think I’ll just step
behind his screen, and black his eyes for him! (Melville 61).” Turkey had had
enough of Bartleby’s passive refusals when he said this. So Bartleby’s behavior
was not only affecting his work output or his employer, but the other employees
as well. Much like a classroom setting where if one student is not kept in
line, the others students will follow. Perhaps the real problem was the fact
the Turkey and Nippers were permitted to come to work with their problems so
Bartleby felt he was allowed to as well. Either way, whether the employees were
solely at blame or a piece of the blame belongs to the narrator, this workplace
was extremely dysfunctional.
The refusals, the objections, the
overall blatant disrespect by the employees to their employer are direct
examples of how society has deteriorated in some of their most basic morals. Many
years ago workers were not as likely to show poor on the job skills such as
these. I believe that this was because the consequences for doing so were
greater. Not necessarily from a “job security” standpoint but from a moral one.
The old ways taught that such disrespect was something to not only be frowned
upon on the job but by society as a whole. If someone were to be fired for
something such as refusing to do their work like Bartleby, that would stick
with them wherever they went in or out of the workplace. They might be looked
at by society as a quitter or someone who is disobedient. Nowadays or in the
time of this story, disobedience and quitting is was all too common. Employees
did not have the added responsibility of protecting their reputation as well as
their job. This shows that a decline has emerged in the quality of morals of
society.
Nippers, Turkey, and Bartleby all
had unique qualities that made them valuable employees is one way or another.
They each were productive at various times throughout the day. The
inconsistency of their production is the issue that eventually arose and became
a problem for the narrator who employed them. By Bartleby refusing to do his
work he got everyone else off task as well. He even disrupted his employer’s day
by causing him to complete tasks instead. The scrivener’s building went from
one of dysfunction to chaos after Bartleby arrived. These issues all shed light
on the fact that society has declined substantially from what it used to be.
The old ways were once built on diligence, integrity, and obedience, this new
class of workers shows how society has deviated from its morals and standards
to something new and pathetic as what was demonstrated in the story.
Works Cited
Melville, Herman. "Bartleby, the Scrivener. A Story of Wall-street,
by Herman Melville.." Bartleby.com.
Bartleby.com, Inc. , July 1999. Web. 27 Feb 2012.
<https://lbblackboard.yc.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tabGroup=courses&url=/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?content_id=_832547_1&displayName=Linked+File&course_id=_43648_1&navItem=content&attachment=true&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bartleby.com%2F129%2F>.
