Bartleby Essay- Draft 1

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>.