Bartleby: A Story of Wall Street - Essay Example

Essay, English Topic: Research paper on "Bartleby: A Story of Wall Street." "Bartleby: A Story of Wall Street" is a story of the ‘wall’ within the heart of an individual which one is unable to pull down and that drives him to the ‘street’ being denied economic, social security and psychological support by the society. His problem is mainly psychological. He finds it difficult to get him assimilated in the present level of the society; he is too sincere and therefore unfit to be here. (On this Planet Earth) He makes the desperate bid to challenge it in an effort to overcome his frustrations. Herman Melville mirrors the economic and political climate of the period when the story sees the light of the day. In the mid-19th century, money dominates the societal scenes. Wall Street has always been a generator or destroyer, a unique economic apparatus that builds and breaks individual fortunes. In this story, Wall Street provides the backgrounder information and stands as a huge, mute witness to the social scene impacted by the economic drama that goes on within. The actual story is related to two individuals, a Wall Street lawyer and the Copyist he hires. The story revolves round two economic systems, capitalism and communism. Concealed beneath the apparently meaningless if not mad behavior of Bartleby is a socio-spiritual message of utmost significance to the humankind. In the clash between these two ‘isms’ the important aspect of humanism should not be lost sight of and it must be preserved at all times and at all costs. In this story communism is beaten, the copyist ultimately dies of starvation, just as it happens with Russia when Communism first take over in the post-revolution era and when it finally collapses in the regime of Michael Gorbachev. Wall Street is the barometer of the economy: Wall Street has been the barometer of economy invariably, and it is so in the mid-1800s. In that period, in the absence of mechanization of photocopying, “Copyists” occupy a pivotal position to copy the information. They are also designated as scriveners or law clerks. This story relates to a Wall Street lawyer, who is not named in the story. He is doing brisk business and with the increase in the workload in the office, he appoints a new incumbent as “Copyist” in addition to the existing three, who are all of different temperaments. This new recruit, Bartleby does exceptionally well in the beginning, he is a cool and dignified person. One day, the lawyer asks Bartleby to review some copied documents aloud to verify their correctness. Bartleby instantly replies “I would prefer not to.” This shocks the lawyer as this is an act of insubordination. But again credits to Bartleby, he has been very polite even in his denial and the lawyer ignores his curt reply, nevertheless he has a question mark in his mind about the disposition of Bartleby. Lawyer’s first reaction to the refusal indicates what sort of a personality Bartleby is. Melville writes “I looked at him steadfastly. His face was leanly composed; his gray eye dimly calm. Not a wrinkle of agitation rippled him. Had there been the least uneasiness, anger, impatience or impertinence in his manner; in other words, had there been any thing ordinarily human about him, doubtless I should have violently dismissed him from the premises” (Para 25) He becomes curious. When he comes to know that Bartleby lives in his office, he is amazed. Melville writes, “Of a Sunday, Wall-street is deserted as Petra; and every night of every day it is emptiness. This building too, which of week-days hums with industry and life, at nightfall echoes with sheer vacancy, and all through Sunday is forlorn. And here Bartleby makes his home; sole spectator of solitude which he has seen all populous—a sort of innocent and transformed Marius brooding among the ruins of Carthage!”(Para, 88) He thinks that it is time for him to verify his character and antecedents. He questions Bartleby about his past, and this time again Bartleby uses the word “prefers” and is unwilling to reveal anything further. Lawyer asks Bartleby a number of times to read aloud from the documents, but Bartleby sticks to his original stand and refuses, and finally stops copying altogether. Now Bartleby has become a trade union problem as he shirks responsibility and thus vitiates the office discipline and he is a wrong model to other employees. Unable to handle or mend him, the lawyer fires him though reluctantly. Bartleby refuses to leave the premises, and the lawyer moves his offices in order to get rid of him. The new entrant at the premises is unable to get Bartleby evicted and on complaints, Bartleby is finally arrested and sent to jail. To give the final touches to the characterization of Bartleby Melville makes the mention of him in the epilogue and gives information about his earlier job that he has been working in Dead Letter Office, a job that is symbolic of the ‘dead’ heart of Bartleby, which is the reason for his cynicism. Trade union and philanthropy move in tandem: To avoid the reflections of the tribulations of personal life, especially the harsher aspect of it, is impossibility for an author, howsoever craftily one may try. This is true of Melville. Previous to this story he has written a book, Moby Dick, which is unsuccessful in terms of monetary compensation to the author. The reflection of his internal conflicts and the overall socio-economic conditions then prevailing in the society can be read through the characterization of this story. The picture of the bigger canvas of domination of capitalists on the American economy in the 19th century is also reflected in the story. As mentioned in the earlier paragraph, Bartleby has become a trade union problem for the lawyer and his refusal to do his allotted duties, is an act of willful disobedience and is punishable under the labor laws. But Bartleby’s is a peculiar case. The lawyer uses the management tactics by offering him a raise and puts pressure on him to leave the office. When all efforts fail, the lawyer concludes that Bartleby has some mental problem. He is willing to spend some money to solve the case of Bartleby and when he is sent to jail, instead of feeling elated, the spirit of philanthropy surfaces and he spends money to ensure that he will be given proper food. Thus the lawyer does not belong to the category of die-hard managerial cadre and his disposition is not totally profit-oriented, but charitable. The dangerous combination of racism, capitalism and the threat of civil war: Conditions are ripe for Civil War in America when “Bartleby The Scrivener” sees the light of the day. A politically conscious, and socially sensitive author like Melville, reads the conditions then prevailing through his characters. The tension, on ideological grounds between the North and the South are on the increase. Capitalism is practiced in its worst form, the exploitation of the workers is rampart, and such practices increase the prosperity of the Northerners. The South being increasingly neglected is fighting to set the position right. The story hints at the reaction of the common people against capitalism. Melville is watching the societal situation around him very carefully and reacts through the disposition of his characters. Slavery is being practiced in its worst form in South and the in North wage-slaves are being appointed and they work hard without intermission in the factories for meager payments. The initial happiness of the lawyer about the output of work by Bartleby, and his working sincerely and for long hours needs to be understood in this context. He sees the advantage of cheap labor in the appointment of Bartleby. 1850s is the period of transition in America as for labor and management relations. The labor has adopted the tools of collective bargaining available to them like resorting to violence and strikes. Melville makes the mention of Jacob Astor with the purpose of introducing the societal responses to the economic challenges. The lawyer is working for this wealthy aristocrat of the time. A new development is taking place in the industrial world. Skilled workers have perfected the art of converting the economic opportunities to their advantage and have become financial tycoons. Lawyer’s tie with Jacob Astor indicates how fresh water is gushing forth in the expanding industrial world. The story also is the pointer as to how the lawyer is adapting himself and offers services from his office as per the new demands of the industrial world and the changes taking place therein. Is the narrator secretly in love w/ Bartleby? Yes, he is! But this is an extraordinary love, not at the level of body, but at the soul level. Melville writes about what is going on in the mind of the lawyer, “For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not-unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam.”(Para, 89) By now the lawyer has realized that his connectivity to Bartleby is more than the employee-employer relationship. The issue is no more a ‘labor dispute.’ The position is the lawyer is willing to learn some profound truths related to humankind from the revelations of Bartleby. He is curious and at the same time, worries about his not taking proper food. He does not know how to handle this extraordinary personality. Secular associations have not hardened the heart of the lawyer and the divine sparks are seen in his reactions and the subject of Bartleby has become part of his eternal search to get at the true meaning life. Bartleby, the silent leader without the supporters: Bartleby is neither a rebel-hero nor a quitter-loser. By taking up the stance of “I prefer not to” he is not going to achieve anything for himself or for the cause of the labor. He has become the laughing stock before his other colleagues in his office. He should have forged the unity and created the united front of all workers in his office before offering the semblance of opposition to the lawyer. But Bartleby will not do that for strange reasons. He is not born to conduct wage-battles. When labor is on discount, and the writ of the industrial magnates is at premium, taking a directionless stance will prove futile. When he lands up in prison, none except his former employer comes to his rescue. Before offering the desperate challenge to the lawyer, Bartleby needs to think about the possible consequences of his action and how it will affect him individually, with none to support his stand. Any employer respects talents and wants to have the best hands in his office, in the overall interest of his business. Bartleby is an efficient worker, calm and quiet and does the job allotted to him fairly well. No reasons are assigned for his sudden resistance to the job that is normally expected of from the “Copyists.” Some struggle related to labor versus capital must have been going on in his inner world, and his fiery resistance erupted at a time that is not expected by the lawyer. He takes it as the one-time aberration from duties, and knowing the intrinsic worth of Bartleby for his organization, he thinks it prudent to give him the second chance. Terminating the services of an employee is a reflection on the administration of the employer as well. When the lawyer fails after repeated efforts he avails the lawful option available to the employer and fires Bartleby from services, to maintain office discipline. Other employees will take lessons as to what is the cost of willful disobedience of orders from the owner/superior authorities. The world of workers and management In the story Melville highlights the corporate discontent in a subtle form. The description of the office and the landscape of Wall Street do not inspire. Working ambience for the employees is extremely poor. The employees work there, as they have no other alternative as they need to assure themselves of tomorrow’s bread from today’s labor. The rapid advancement in modern economy arrives at a cost to humanity and their interests are not protected. The change is crude, inhumane and has no feeling for the wellbeing of the concerned employee and his family members. Bartleby is unable to appreciate and pressure building within him. People wear the mask of artificiality in dealings, and have no concern for the psyche of an individual. The final solution as contemplated by Bartleby is to seek liberation from the mortal bindings, and Melville thinks that Bartleby should die and that is the only way to seek solace from all sufferings. He represents the suffering humanity. To a man of the temperament of Bartleby, the act of living is as good as death. The final image of the story, the Dead Letter Office, sums up the essence of the story. Just as undelivered communications to the dead are put to fire for burning and their contents are of no consequence to anyone, a person living with un-fructified desires and ambitions is as good as the corpse. Is Melville’s story, a Marxist argument? Just because an author, in his story, deals with a labor problem or attacks the capitalist system, one does not become a Marxist. Rather, we come across many characters, including the lawyer, who has a humanistic approach. A hard-core communist is the one who wields the gun. Here, the lawyer and Bartleby sit in the corner of their office in Wall Street with a paper and pen! There are many other procedures to solve the labor-management problems with the approach other than that of Marxism. In this story the problem with Bartleby is that he is too philosophical and therefore he is internally unfit for the routine and boring life that he has to spend in the office of the lawyer. The feeling of resentment for the system of capitalism is not Marxism. There are many other intermediary stations of political philosophy. What is preference? What does it mean to prefer? Preference is an ordinary word made famous by Bartleby in the sorry. Wise people say that silence is the sweetest sound on earth. But his silence is the profound philosophical silence. When Bartleby expresses his unwillingness to do the job allotted to him, “I would prefer not to” without assigning any reasons, the lawyer is perplexed. The reply is polite but in office administration it cannot be tolerated or accepted. The lawyer decides to question him, but elicits no positive response. The lawyer tries again and he questions him and this time the reply is even stranger. He says that he has given up all writing. Bartleby now sits like a dumb statue gazing at the wall. To his question “And what is the reason?” Bartleby gives an enigmatic reply, “Do you not see the reason for yourself?” He thinks that the nature of work and the work culture at his Wall Street office has the telling effect on his initiative and personality. Has it impacted his eyesight? That is another normal doubt. In all probability preference is the working philosophy of the life of Bartleby. His secular preferences have ceased and he has attained a new mental dimension. Analysis of the “dead letter” On returning to Tombs, the lawyer finds another tomb in the form of Bartleby. He has been liberated from the mortal bindings and is huddled up at the base of a wall. His dim eyes remain open but he is dead. Melville introduces dead letter episode in the epilogue of the story. He gets the clue that Bartleby is working as a clerk in the Dead Letter Office at Washington. Here is an office that handles communications that have no purpose, there are no recipients as the person is not known at the addressed provided. Bartleby’s fate is compared to the fate of the dead letter, which is ultimately is burnt and destroyed; whether it exists or burnt to ashes has no meaning whatsoever for the letter. Bartleby’s internal world is dead, from the moment he utters the words, “I would prefer not to,” which is a pointer to his disassociation from the society. The seed of revolution: A small issue has assumed gigantic proportions and even after his services are terminated, the lawyer vacates that premises and moves to another office with the intention of getting rid of Bartleby, nothing tangible happens and he still inhibits in the old building. He is unable to abdicate his responsibility to his old “Copyist”, even after vacating the office premises. But he does not take active interest in the matter and tries to ignore it. But the issue escalates. Many persons including his former landlord challenge him with the news that Bartleby still occupies the building and this unauthorized occupation means he undermines the rules and regulations that govern the Wall Street society. This is rebellion by Bartleby and all are concerned, and the clients are leaving the offices, and his attitude instills fear in the minds of the people. Though the lawyer has no direct responsibility for the actions of Bartleby, public opinion is against him and he thinks that he has the moral compulsions to act and do something about the issue. He decides to seek a final interview with the unauthorized occupant. His approach is still conciliatory, and he offers new employment opportunities to Bartleby. He gets the negative response but his reactions are strange as well. While turning down the job offer, he says that he is not particular about what he does and that all jobs, he considers, are equally distasteful to him. This development indicates the philosophical progression that takes hold of the personality of Bartleby. The lawyer does not succeed in making Bartleby comply with his reasoning and request. His all efforts end up in failure. When management-type negotiations fail, the lawyer tenders a philanthropic proposal before him. He invites him to his home. Even this offer is declined and Bartleby prefers to stay in the Wall Street room. Seeing no way out, the narrator seeks the temporary truce by escaping and leaves the city and when he returns, he gets the news that the police have removed him to the Tombs. He learns that even the act of forcibly taking him, does not creates ripples in his composure and he silently obeys their orders. The lawyer is indignant and greets this news with mixed feelings and hastens to meet Bartleby in the prison. He renews his efforts to win over him but gets the cryptic answer, “I know where I am.” He stands before the wall, and ignores anything else other than its existence. The difference between Bartleby and other Copyists: The other Copyists have accepted their status as wage earners and their services are useful to the lawyer. They are partly obedient and partly rebellious. They are never aggressive and challenge their employer. The lawyer dominates and gets the things of his choice done through them. They do not resist the process of verification of accuracy of their work as per his choice. When Bartleby begins the process of resistance, they sometimes fall in line with his thinking and often resist him, mostly in the presence of the lawyer. They thus, follow the policy of appeasement and wish to safeguard their self-interest always. Majority of persons in the society do not take principled stand and they practice opportunism. Persons like Bartleby are rebels against procedures wherever it holds up individual and societal progress. They are creative people and find it difficult to survive in an atmosphere that encourages stagnation and which is not conducive to inner growth. Writers like Nippers and Turkey are incapable of independent action and they just follow the rules. Bartleby, on the other hand will break rather than bend. The ensuing conversation between the lawyer and other Copyists reveals something about the situation, on Bartleby’s persistent refusal to carry out orders with the reply, “ I would prefer not to.” “Turkey,” said I, “what do you think of this? Am I not right?”(Para, 41) “With submission, sir,” said Turkey, with his blandest tone, “I think that you are.”(Para, 42) “Nippers,” said I, “what do you think of it?”(Para, 43) “I think I should kick him out of the office.”(Para, 44) The immortal death of Bartleby Wise people say and scriptures of many religions reveal that the body dies (undergoes transformation) but the spirit is ever-living and immortal. Life is the eternal search contributing to the inner transformation. The process goes on until the man experiences the practical vision of the divinity within. Melville writes that when Bartleby dies, he is still searching and his open eyes are the indicators of his inquisitiveness. Even though he does not live to see the fructification of the convictions which he aspires for, the blinking open eyes indicate till his last breath, he is alert to the prevailing societal conditions. The last sentence of the story, “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!”(Para, 251) has profound meaning. It depicts the societal condition for which the author laments. There is “life” in the eyes even after the death of an individual, and donation of eyes is considered as the greatest act of merit. In the present context, the shine in the eyes of Bartleby indicate his future vision about the fate of humankind. Conclusion Bartleby is the embodiment of positive qualities. He is the lone challenger to the existing system, where craze for aggrandizement of wealth is the way of life. In addition, the positive qualities like morality, honesty, idealism, love and co-operation have vanished from the society at present. Transparency in dealings is just the glib talk, and each one wishes to outsmart the other and wears the mask to conceal the real identity. No concrete efforts are being made to break the artificial barriers that divide the humanity and challenge to wrong procedures is considered as an act of rebellion. Bartleby challenges the negativities and finally finds peace in death only. In death he has many mourners and admirers, but in life no one is willing to support him, barring the lawyer. Works Cited Melville, Herman (1819–1891). Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street; 1853 Web: http://www.bartleby.com/129/ Accessed on April 18, 2013 Read More