Bartleby The Scrivener Literary Analysis

In Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener, the lawyer—who also functions as a narrator— experiences internal struggle between religious morals and the modern capitalism ideas, but eventually chooses capitalism ideas over religious morals. Bartleby’s peculiar actions of refusing to do every activity, causes the narrator to view him as a mere object and pity him. The lawyer recalls the Bible and approaches Bartleby to offer him help in order to appease his own guilt of looking down on him. Through helping Bartleby, the lawyer is satisfied of himself of being a pious man. However, once he finds out that Bartleby is harming the lawyer’s successful business, he abandons him, forgetting his promise to help Bartleby. After Bartleby’s tragic ending, he
From the narrator’s point of view, he cannot understand how one does not eat, does not socialize with other people; therefore, he pities hum and views him as a toy. In fact, Bartleby, himself does not ever feel sadness because he his lonely or poor. The narrator does value Bartleby as an individual, but an object because he is neutral. The narrator says to Bartleby that, “You are harmless and noiseless as any of these old chairs; in short, I never feel so private as when I know you are here” (157). The narrator compares Bartleby to worn furniture and asserts that his existence is nothing more than an object. Therefore, this proves that the narrator sneers at Bartleby and does not respect him as an
The narrator, an entrepreneur surrounded in the competitive Wall Street, wants to get rid of someone who is interfering on his way. He says, “At length, necessities connected with my business tyrannized over all other considerations” (153). Because business is the narrator’s priority, once the narrator discovers that Bartleby is no help to him, he abandons him and moves his office. Hence, when the narrator claims to not be responsible of Bartleby to other lawyers, he contradicts his mission to “furnish Bartleby with a office room”. (157) He says, “But, really, [Bartleby] is nothing to me—he is no relation or apprentice of mine, that you should hold me responsible for him (159). The lawyer believes that he has done every good religious act to help Bartleby and thus it is not his responsibility to take care of him anymore. The lawyer justifies his guilt of abandoning Bartleby by paying more money to the guards in the jail so that Bartleby can be provided with better food. But, Bartleby is not happy because he knows that the lawyer is simply doing it for the sake of pleasing himself. So when Bartleby encounters the lawyer, he says, “ I know you… an I want nothing to say to you” (161). This highlights that even though the narrator attempted to help Bartleby, he did it just to please his own satisfaction. In the final part of the story,