Bartleby

Etrange nouvelle sur un homme qui du jour au lendemain décide qu'il ne préfère plus travailler. Intriguant et étrange.

Melville presents complex ideas about society, the work force, and humanity in a short and simple format. The narrator's wavering feelings between affection and exasperation towards his listless employee, Bartleby, makes the narrative all the more compelling as it makes the reader question himself on the right course of actions to deal with a person like Bartleby.

Does one throw him out on the streets based on the fact that he refuses to work, knowing that he has no family, friends, or a home to return to; or does one keep him regardless of his inefficiency, for charitable reasons? The narrator's inaction is ultimately Bartleby's downfall, but can the narrator be blamed for his employee's death? By moving his offices to another location, the narrator effectively condemns Bartleby to the cruelty of society, but the narrator cannot be blamed for trying to restore order to his office and rid himself of a "millstone... a useless necklace" (40).

This novella is an excellent social commentary on what it means to be human, to have compassion and sympathy, as well as the application of the law. Bartleby stands as a symbol of the workforce and how it can be soul-sucking and destructive. Furthermore, the novella touches on the topic of mental illnesses and depression, albeit indirectly, through Bartleby's continued refusal to work and his overall demeanor, such as standing for hours on end in front of a window that faces a brick wall.


Credit to Bill Bragg, foliosociety.com (2012)

I am of the opinion that Bartleby must be pitied and looked after, and that the narrator did all he possibly could to help him. The narrator's generosity, gentleness, and caring attitude are credits to his nature as a compassionate man. Melville's commentary tells us that we need to be more attentive the the woes of those around us, lest they stand “like the last column[s] of some ruined temple” (41).

I am glad I finally got around to Herman Melville's “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” This is one of the many novellas I selected to hit my Goodreads reading target in the year of COVID. Who can't get to their target when there should be more time for reading? Me, apparently.

Enter Bartleby. I am still thinking about this book, which means it likely deserves more three stars. As someone who is an accountant by day, I am very attuned to how dull and repetitive some day jobs can be.

I was lucky that my first boss, a partner at a CPA firm I worked for right out of college, told me that accounting can be an art. He was not referring to the illegal, your creative, accounting that Enron is well known for. What he meant is that I should look at each job as a way to challenge myself and find better and better ways to serve our clients. I have taken this advice to heart, which has led to a lot of different career choices. Why am I going to all this personal detail?

Because the job of a scrivener, or copyist, is not all that far from a bookkeeper. You do many tasks over and over and, in the days before computers, had to have pretty decent handwriting.

If, one day I were simply to tell any one of my bosses: “I prefer not to,“ I would have been sacked immediately. And, to be fair I would wish to sack an employee of mine if they were to respond seriously in this manner and not proceed with the request I had made.

This little novella, which was Melville‘s last, is an interesting exploration of office life. One wonders how much of this was inspired by Melville‘s disgust with being asked to produce hit after hit, instead of doing the art he truly wish to. The narrator is also an interesting character. He vacillates from frustration to anger to concern to paternalism and back again. Is the narrator intended to represent the good side of capitalism, because he never actually throws Bartleby out on his ear or, is the joke that we can't really take care of those who simply wish not to be? I still have many thoughts about this book, but simply cannot crystallized at all. I can't say it's worth reading this very short work and not just because you're trying to hit a reading goal for the year..

Two quirky short stories by Melville published in the Penguin 60s series.

Bartleby (The Scrivener) is a hugely entertaining and well written story told by a nameless narrator about a recent employee - Bartleby, a copyist (or scrivener as they were known at the time(1850s)). Once employed and asked to do anything responds “I would prefer not to.”
The narrators mood over time changes from outrage to resentment, to puzzlement and to sympathy. The story doesn't resolve itself, rather it leaves the reader to make an assessment as to Bartleby's motivation (or rather lack of motivation).

Updated: How could I have forgotten to comment on the mention this story gets on the Archer episode called Skorpio. “I would prefer not to. Bartleby, the Scrivener? Anybody? Not a big Melville crowd here, huh? He's not an easy read.” Have to say I didn't make the connection until I read the book, even though it has been in my shelf for few years already.

The Lightning-rod Man is a very short tale, set on a stormy night by a nameless narrator who has a stranger turn up at his door. The stranger is a lightning rod salesman, who does his best to pitch his wares to the disbelieving narrator. This story is interpreted as Melville showing a strongly independent American spirit of the time (1850s).

Good reads at 4/5 stars for me.