Melville's 'Bartleby': A Study in Alienation and Passive Resistance

Overview of "Bartleby, the Scrivener" (1853). A good-natured elderly Wall Street lawyer describes the eccentric people he employed in his office, including a man nicknamed Turkey, a scrivener (or copyist) who worked most effectively before noon; a man nicknamed Nippers, a scrivener who worked most effectively after noon; and Ginger Nut, a young boy who ran office errands. Deciding that he needed more assistance, the lawyer hired a quiet, withdrawn scrivener named Bartleby, who, although he performed his copying effectively, soon exasperated everyone in the office by repeatedly saying that he would "prefer not" to help with most of the normal work. Bartleby's quiet noncompliance with most of the typical expectations of life eventually led new owners of the office to have him evicted and sent as a vagrant to prison, where he refused to eat and eventually died, much to the befuddlement and pain of his former employer. This story—perhaps Melville's best and certainly his most famous work of short fiction—is by turns funny, mystifying, and pathetic.

It is full of memorable characters, and although (by design) nothing much "happens" in terms of plot, the story creates real suspense as we wonder what will eventually happen to a nonconformist as gently but firmly uncompromising as Bartleby. Much response to the story centers around efforts to determine why Bartleby behaves as he does, what his behavior may signify or symbolize, and how to assess the motives and response of the puzzled lawyer. As so often in Melville's fiction, the story raises far more questions than it answers; its value lies less in any specific points it makes than in the thought and debate it provokes. Lea Newman, in her overview of responses to the tale, provides an exceptionally fine guide to the reactions the work has elicited.

Critical Interpretations and Symbolism. The Central Mystery and Reader Response. Many readers have seen in the character of Bartleby a reflection of Melville himself. According to this interpretation, Bartleby symbolizes Melville's own increasing distance, withdrawal, and alienation from the standard expectations of the society of his time. Both men are writers who prefer not to conform to the dictates of others, even if their nonconformance leads to their ostracism, financial peril, and eventual demise. Melville's Self-Reflection and Alienation. Just as Bartleby is an efficient copyist at first, so (according to this line of thought) Melville was initially a popular writer who knew how to satisfy the tastes of a broad audience; and just as Bartleby increasingly retreats into a life of isolated contemplation, so did Melville exasperate his original readers by turning his back on the common literary fashions of his day.

He refused any longer to be a mere "copyist" or imitator, thereby rejecting not only the standards of his era but also the ethos of commercial publishing, in which writing was seen first and foremost as a means to make money and earn a living. Bartleby thus symbolizes (for these readers) a repudiation of basic American values, in which a person's worth is measured by his or her wealth and commitment to financial success. Just as Melville became increasingly distant from well-meaning friends and family who worried about his mental health as his career as a conventional author declined, so Bartleby provokes similar concern in the lawyer through a similar withdrawal and refusal to conform.

Capitalism, Wall Street, and Social Critique. Satirizing the Business Ethic. A broader interpretation of the story focuses less on its relation to Melville's personal predicament and more on its relation to the broader problems of American society as a whole. According to this view, Melville uses this story to satirize the emptiness, pointlessness, and soullessness of the money-making business ethic that increasingly controlled American life and culture. The fact that the story takes place on Wall Street, in the very center of the main U.S. financial district (and the center of the American stock market), is, for these readers, no accident, while the fact that Bartleby spends so much of his time staring at a blank brick wall symbolizes the stupefying, soul-destroying impact (at least on any truly thoughtful person) of a life devoted merely to commerce and profit.

From this perspective, the lawyer embodies many of the worst aspects of the capitalist system, including a tendency to think of other people simply in terms of their financial value and commercial usefulness, as well as a smug, self-satisfied complacency that never questions the value of a shallow, comfortable, but ultimately empty existence. The lawyer tolerates the eccentricities of Turkey and Nippers because they are literally valuable to him: These men help enrich his coffers, and, unlike Bartleby, they never rebel or pose a serious challenge to his selfish and self-satisfied way of life. They are useful, compliant cogs in the enormous machine of capitalist enterprise, whereas Bartleby, by quietly repudiating the capitalist ethic, engages in a kind of sit-down strike that leaves the lawyer-narrator frustrated and nonplussed.

The Lawyer's Transformation and Moral Growth. Evolution of the Lawyer's Attitude. Some readers, however, see an admirable evolution in the lawyer's attitude toward and treatment of Bartleby. If at first the lawyer regards Bartleby as simply a useful employee, and if he subsequently becomes frustrated by Bartleby's noncompliance and lack of productivity, eventually (and especially by the end of the tale) he regards Bartleby as a kind of friend—someone about whom the lawyer truly cares in a genuinely selfless way. He repeatedly visits Bartleby in prison, tries to make sure he is fed there, and seems truly disconsolate when he learns that the scrivener has passed away. By the conclusion of the story the lawyer has begun to demonstrate some real compassion and charity, although his fellow feeling arises (perhaps) too late and cannot prevent Bartleby's death.

In his other-worldly peace of mind and rejection of mundane standards, Bartleby has been interpreted by many critics as a kind of Christ figure, and they regard his eventual effect on the lawyer as transformational to some degree. Other readers, however, strongly question whether the lawyer has really learned anything of value by the end of the tale or whether he has fundamentally changed.

Philosophical and Religious Dimensions. Eastern and Western Philosophical Parallels. In addition to being compared to Christ, Bartleby has been linked to Buddhist withdrawal and to Hindu asceticism, and his death has been interpreted as a kind of achievement of Nirvana or nothingness (Newman 58). At the same time, his utter lack of conventional motivation has been read as a kind of self-destructive psychiatric condition, resembling schizophrenia, while his maddening treatment of the lawyer has been interpreted as a sort of passive-aggressive hostility. His plight has additionally been seen as foreshadowing the ideas of 20th-century existentialism (in which each person must choose his or her own response to a world that seems fundamentally absurd and without objective meaning).

From this perspective, the story reflects Melville's own growing nihilism—the philosophy of nothingness in which existence may seem absurd and in which any purposeful action may therefore seem pointless. On the other hand, the story has been interpreted by some analysts as Melville's satire of the transcendentalism so popular during the 19th century and as mockery, in particular, of Henry David Thoreau's ideals and conduct, especially his withdrawal from society and his belief in passive resistance.

Narrative Technique, Structure, and Literary Merit. Unreliable Narration and Irony. The skill with which the story is written and constructed has often been praised. Here as in so many other works, Melville creates a narrator whose values and perceptions cannot always be trusted, the reader thus becomes actively involved in trying to determine the "true" meaning (if any) of the behavior described. Irony thus plays a major role in this tale, in many ways and on many levels. Meanwhile, the structure of the work has often been seen as consisting of three parts: a first section that describes the routine of the office before Bartleby's arrival, a second section that focuses on Bartleby's disruption of that routine, and a third section that reports the fate of Bartleby after the lawyer vacates his old premises, leaving Bartleby behind.

The imagery and symbolism of walls (which imply confinement, isolation, limits, and the absence of natural outlets or alternatives to urban, commercial values) have been the subject of frequent comment, while one of the best insights into the effectiveness of the story was also one of the earliest, when Richard Henry Dana, Sr., writing soon after the tale was published, commented that the work "touches the nice strings of our complicated nature, & finely blends the pathetic & ludicrous. . . . [Turkey and Nippers] relieve the picture, at the same time that they are skillfully and humorously set off against each other" (qtd. in Newman 66). Certainly the story is one of the saddest but also one of the funniest Melville ever composed; it is Dickensian in its presentation of quirky characters; and the befuddled Bartleby produces in his colleagues often provokes real laughter in Melville's readers. Full of clever dialogue, unexpected twists of plot, and growing suspense, the story reveals Melville near the top of his talent.

For Discussion or Writing.
1. Examine the use of repetition in the story. How does it affect the story's mood?
2. How is "Bartleby" similar, in characterization and point of view, to Melville's "Benito Cereno"? In particular, how does the lawyer in Bartleby resemble Captain Delano in the latter work, and how is the lawyer's reaction to Bartleby similar to the reaction of Delano to Cereno?

Critical Analysis of Herman Melville's "Benito Cereno" (1855)

Plot Synopsis and Core Narrative Dynamics. Captain Amasa Delano and his American vessel, the Bachelor's Delight, encounter a distressed Spanish vessel named the San Dominick, which is populated by a predominantly Black crew. Upon going aboard to investigate and offer assistance, Delano hears an account of severe sickness, death, and tempestuous weather from Benito Cereno, the visibly distraught captain of the Spanish ship. Throughout the encounter, Cereno is constantly accompanied by Babo, an ostensibly devoted slave who appears to attend faithfully to his captain's every need. The true dynamic is only revealed when Delano prepares to return to his own vessel. A frantic Cereno leaps into Delano's boat, disclosing that the San Dominick had experienced a violent slave mutiny led by Babo. Most of the white crew members had been killed, and Cereno had been continuously tormented by Babo, who is ultimately killed as he attempts to take vengeance on the terrified Spanish captain.

Literary Features, Irony, and Narrative Discourse. Historical Basis and Structural Features. The 1855 novella "Benito Cereno", like much of Herman Melville's fiction, is based on an actual historical incident and exhibits key signature elements of his literary oeuvre. These structural features include a focus on a central observer (Delano) whose limited perspective forms a core narrative element, an ambiguous exploration of intricate moral and social themes, and a deep engagement with how identical events are rendered through different forms of discourse. The text shifts from a third-person narrative across most of the work to legal deposition testimony by Cereno near the story's conclusion. As one of Melville's most ironic compositions, the novella generates claustrophobic suspense while creating profound uncertainty regarding where reader sympathy should lie. The character of Babo remains at the center of this moral ambiguity, viewed by some readers as a resourceful and heroic figure, and by others as an embodiment of dark evil and sadism.

Atmospheric Setting, Misgivings, and Character Perception. Atmospheric Symbolism and Narrative Tone. The novella opens with a pronounced emphasis on the color gray, describing a muted, calm environment shrouded in gray vapors, gray fowl, and gray sky. In a narrative focused on racial tensions, moral ambiguity, and limited perspective, this initial grayness reflects the thematic complexity of the text. Melville reinforces this atmosphere of uncertainty through recurring lexical choices such as "shadows," "misgivings," "clouds," "baffling," "uncertainty," "fog," "decay," "masked," and "faded grandeur" in the opening pages.

Delano's Limited Intellectual Perception. This complex, unsettling atmosphere contrasts sharply with the straightforward nature of Delano. Delano's perception is constrained by a good-natured disposition that resists attributing malicious intent to others without overwhelming evidence. Melville leaves it to the reader to assess whether Delano's benevolent nature reflects genuine moral strength or a significant deficiency in critical insight and intellectual perception. Ultimately, Delano's unsophisticated nature prevents him from perceiving the true circumstances aboard the vessel until the climax of the narrative.

Scholarly Interpretations and Critical Debates. Critical Overview of Scholarly Receptions. As scholar Lea Newman notes in her overview of scholarship on "Benito Cereno", critical reception centers on whether the text is primarily a metaphysical examination of evil or a sociological exploration of slavery. Interpretations of Babo vary significantly across academic literature:

· 1st perspective: Symbolic embodiment of deep human evil or a demonic entity reflecting human dark nature.

· 2nd perspective: Animalistic character possessing strategic cunning, or an implicit critique of white assumptions regarding Black passivity.

· 3rd perspective: Intelligent and courageous leader fighting for liberation, representing an early assertive Black militant figure in American literature.

· 4th perspective: Representation of primitive violence, or an illustration of white naive unpreparedness regarding slave rebellions.

· 5th perspective: Exploration of the dehumanizing effects of slavery on both the enslaved and the masters, inverting the roles of Babo and Cereno.

Character Symbolism and Aesthetic Evaluation. Symbolic Roles of Delano and Cereno. Scholars further analyze Delano as a representation of a naive American culture unequipped to confront deep evil. Conversely, Benito Cereno is viewed either as a symbol of Old World decadence and decline—symbolized by his empty scabbard—or as a sympathetic, tragic figure whose failure stemmed from excessive trust. While a minority of critics regard the novella as overly complex or labored, the prevailing consensus hails it as one of Melville's finest artistic achievements in sustaining suspense and narrative integration.

Questions for Pedagogical Discussion and Analysis. Comparative and Analytical Study Points. The textual and thematic layers of "Benito Cereno" provide a foundation for further academic inquiry and comparative analysis:

1st point: Historical Source Comparison — Examine the historical source material utilized by Herman Melville and contrast his fictional work with Captain Amasa Delano's autobiographical account, analyzing the narrative changes made and their specific thematic effects.

2nd point: Gothic Elements and Suspense — Compare "Benito Cereno" with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" regarding setting, atmospheric tension, gothic conventions, character parallels between Cereno and Roderick Usher, and the construction of moral impact.

3rd point: Confrontation with Evil — Analyze the thematic similarities between Melville's novella and Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," focusing on the confrontation with human evil, the pervasive atmosphere of mystery, and the employment of religious symbolism.