12/18/03Bartleby Essay”Ah Bartleby, Ah Humanity!” This is the key to the short story byHerman Melville “Bartleby”, because it indicates that the image of Bartlebystands as a symbol for humanity on a universal level. This story isappealing for its symbolism.
This, in turn, functions as a commentary onsociety and the working world. Bartleby is a seemingly homeless, mentallydisturbed scrivener who gives up on the prospect of living life andalienates himself from it. Bartleby embodies many “conflicts” of humanitysuch as mortality, alienation, and man’s desire for peace. With thesecharacteristics, the last line of this short story is very significant.
As one of the “conflicts” embodied by Bartleby, mortality plays an unusualrole. Death pervades in the story but not as the end of somebody’s life,but as a kind of living death. The act of living is the real death forBartleby. Life to this strange and mysterious man seems full of meaninglesstasks and hard times that he prefers not to take apart in.
As said in thestory, “. . . happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay; butmisery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none,” society tends totake in the happy light and block the misery.
No one realizes that Bartlebyis miserable in his own skin, even the narrator seems to un-notice hissadness. The only means of protection that Bartleby had against the world is toalienate himself from it. While working as a scrivener, he began toalienate himself from his coworkers. He cut off all communication from themonly responding to their questions and comments with “I would prefer notto.
” He did not socialize with anyone; he stayed confined in his littlecorner on Wall Street, seemingly perfectly content with being alone. WhenBartleby is sent to prison, even then he separates himself from the rest ofthe prisoners and workers. There in this “tomb” Bartleby dies alone,alienated from society, and humanity. The last conflict embodied in Bartleby, is the want of peace. Both thenarrator of this story and Bartleby demonstrated many calm reactions torude and disrespectful comments. Their characters were tested when Bartlebyrefused to work, refused to eave the building, and even the refusal ofanswering simple questions.
Both men kept cool and relaxed during verytense discussions about these topics. The narrator described the fact thathe wanted to keep the peace between them, and therefor never lashed out. This decision of his eventually ended Bartleby in prison and dead. Humanity is defined in the dictionary as the human race. The lastline in Melville’s story reads “Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity!” This symbolizesthe UN happiness he felt towards the human race. He felt that it was theirfault that Bartleby was dead, and it was there fault that all Bartleby’s inthe world live and act the way they o.
I believe That many people are naveto think that the world is a never ending happy place. The world willprobably never be fully happy because although you may be able to fix theappearance of someone’s living environment, and appearance, the wounds ofthe soul are forever going to be there. “I might give (charity) to hisbody, but his body did not pain him: it was his soul that suffered, and hissoul I could not reach.”
