The Triumph of Capitalism

During the period when Melville penned ''Bartleby the Scrivener,'' New York City had solidified its position as the financial hub of the United States. Having been the country's leading port in the colonial era, by the mid-1800s, New York was teeming with banks, credit institutions, insurance firms, brokerage houses, and a bustling stock exchange. This made its business community a key player in the ''organizational revolution" of American economic institutions. By the 1850s, capitalism in New York had evolved to a point where open conflicts, such as strikes and street violence, began to surface between wage laborers and capitalists. Even as early as the 1830s, artisans and skilled workers formed trade unions to oppose factory production methods and wage labor. These craftsmen were upset about being driven out of business by wealthy capitalists who sold cheap, mass-produced goods, undercutting their trade. Additionally, wage workers mourned the loss of the traditional relationship between master craftsmen and apprentices. Before factory production, most skilled workers learned their trade under a master craftsman, who typically provided their room, board, and education. This close bond between employer and employee disappeared with the rise of machine-oriented factory production, which required a large number of unskilled, hourly paid laborers instead of skilled workers. Where once laborers and their employers lived in close quarters, a significant social divide had now emerged between them. New York's merchants and financiers became the nation's most prominent aristocracy of wealth. Businessmen like John Jacob Astor and Andrew Carnegie dominated the city's political and social spheres and were known for their extravagant lifestyles. In ''Bartleby the Scrivener,'' Melville's narrator nostalgically notes how the name John Jacob Astor "rings like unto bullion.'' Melville's small legal office, with its three scriveners (who can be seen as semi-skilled workers), reflects aspects of both the old and new economic systems.

The Coming of the Civil War

In the 1850s, the United States faced a significant political issue: the escalating tension between the North and the South, which ultimately led to the Civil War in 1861. The Compromise of 1850 not only failed to resolve key disagreements over slavery but also exacerbated them. Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1853, a year before "Bartleby the Scrivener" appeared in Putnam's Magazine, highlighted the intense aversion many Northerners felt towards slavery and implicitly praised the "free" society of the North. Southern politicians countered Stowe's criticism by denouncing what they termed the "wage slavery" of the Northern factory system, arguing that wage laborers were worse off than slaves on Southern plantations. These debates often forced politicians and intellectuals to grapple with defining freedom in America. Herman Melville explored the theme of freedom versus slavery in several works, including Benito Cereno, "The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids," and "Bartleby the Scrivener." Abraham Lincoln suggested that freedom meant the "right to rise and better [one's] conditions in life." By 1856, violent clashes had erupted in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions, making a full-scale civil war increasingly likely. This inevitability was confirmed when Abraham Lincoln, known for his abolitionist stance, was elected President in 1860.

Philosophical Trends

In April 1853, a few months before Melville wrote "Bartleby the Scrivener," the first English translation of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's works appeared in a prestigious English periodical. Schopenhauer believed that the human will was superior to knowledge. However, he argued that the will could only liberate itself from society and human laws through asceticism, which required complete withdrawal from society. Schopenhauer envisioned the ideal man as one who dismantles life's illusions through inaction. By gradually severing all connections with the world, Schopenhauer's hero could perform the ultimate act of individual will. It remains uncertain whether Melville was familiar with this concept.

"Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville is a complex narrative set against the backdrop of Wall Street, offering a profound critique of capitalism and its dehumanizing tendencies. Through a skillful blend of unreliable narration, potent symbolism, and deliberate ambiguity, Melville crafts a story that invites varied interpretations. The setting, point of view, and symbolism play significant roles in shaping the narrative's depth and the reader's engagement with its themes.

Setting

The story unfolds on Wall Street, the epicenter of American financial activity during the 1850s, aptly underscoring Melville's exploration of capitalist values. This location is not merely a backdrop but a critical element that amplifies the cold, impersonal nature of a business-centric world. The lawyer-narrator, who admires the capitalist titan John Jacob Astor, personifies Wall Street's values, placing undue importance on superficial attributes such as appearance and dress. The office environment is a microcosm of Wall Street—a place devoid of warmth or community, reduced to a hollow shell after working hours. Melville paints Wall Street as a stark, alienating space that challenges the forging of genuine human connections.

Point of View

Melville utilizes an unreliable narrator to add complexity and multiple layers of meaning to the tale. The lawyer offers a skewed perspective, often clouded by his own assumptions and biases, leading readers to question his interpretations. This is evident early on when he equivocates on Turkey's erratic post-lunch behavior, hinting at but never confirming the man's drinking habits. Such evasiveness permeates the narrative, especially in the lawyer's misguided self-praise for his handling of Bartleby's dismissal, where his efforts clearly prove ineffectual to the reader. The unreliable narration invites debate on whether the story is more about Bartleby or the lawyer himself, as the latter's prejudices complicate understanding the former's enigmatic actions.

Symbolism

Symbols of walls and dead letters are deeply woven into the fabric of "Bartleby the Scrivener," enriching its thematic exploration of isolation and miscommunication. Walls dominate the setting, both physically and psychologically, framing Bartleby's existence in a "dead-wall reverie" and mirroring his mental imprisonment. This motif culminates in Bartleby's death in prison, symbolizing a life "walled off" from societal interactions. The poignant symbol of "dead letters" further accentuates this theme. Introduced by the lawyer at the story's end, these undelivered messages of hope and compassion resonate with Bartleby's isolation and the broader failure of communication—words that arrive too late, parallel the unbridgeable gap between Bartleby and those around him.

Ambiguity

Ambiguity lies at the heart of Melville's narrative style, inviting readers to engage with the text through multiple interpretive lenses. Far from a narrative flaw, this ambiguity enriches the story with layers of meaning, challenging the audience to look beyond surface-level interpretations. Bartleby's inscrutable behavior coupled with the lawyer's distorted viewpoint adds to the story's enigmatic quality. The narrative's conclusion, where the lawyer reflects on Bartleby's plight as emblematic of the human condition, offers yet another interpretive avenue, compelling readers to reevaluate the entire tale. This multiplicity of meanings ensures "Bartleby the Scrivener" remains open to diverse interpretations, defying a singular, definitive reading.

1850s: Labor and management conflicts were frequent. The U.S. economy was expanding swiftly, often at the detriment of unskilled and semi-skilled workers. National unions were starting to form, while local unions also gained influence, representing workers from various crafts and trades. During this developmental phase, labor organizers began to differentiate between skilled and unskilled laborers.

1990s: Although not as influential as in previous decades, labor unions still played a significant role in improving working conditions and wages for their members. In 1997, a strike by United Parcel Service (UPS) significantly disrupted industries dependent on UPS for product delivery. Teamsters President Ron Carey called the strike's resolution "a victory over corporate greed."

1850s: The narrator mentions that Ginger Nut, the office boy, earned one dollar per week. Wages were quite low during this era. In 1860, the average farmer earned 88 cents per day while working 66 hours per week.

1990s: The job of law copyist, once held by Bartleby, Turkey, and Nippers, no longer exists. However, modern equivalents include legal secretaries and paralegals. A legal secretary, who assists in preparing legal documents for lawyers, earns between $16,400 and $36,000 annually. Paralegals, who handle much of the background work and legal research for lawyers, earn between $14,000 and $39,000 per year.

Bartleby is a 1970 film adaptation of Melville's story featuring Paul Scofield, John McEnery, Thorly Walters, and Colm Jeavons, directed by Anthony Friedman. The film was produced by Pantheon, distributed by British Lion, and has a runtime of 78 minutes.

The film A Discussion of Herman Melville's Bartleby was created by Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. in 1969. It accompanies the film Bartleby by Herman Melville, also produced by the company that same year.

Bartleby, a 1962 motion picture by AudioVisual Services, is another adaptation of Melville's story.

"Bartleby the Scrivener" is available on audio cassette, narrated by Milton R. Stern as part of the Everett Edwards 1971 series, 19th-century American Writers. It has a duration of 39 minutes.

In 1977, PrenticeHall Media produced a filmstrip and cassette of "Bartleby the Scrivener."

Sources

Marx, Leo, "Melville's Parable of the Wall," The Sewanee Review, Vol. LXI, No. 4, Autumn 1953, pp. 102-27.

Mitchell, Thomas R., "Dead Letters and Dead Men: Narrative Purpose in 'Bartleby the Scrivener'," Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 27, No. 3, Summer 1990, pp. 329-38.

Further Reading

Fisher, Marvin, "'Bartleby,' Melville's Circumscribed Scrivener," The Southern Review, Vol. X, No. 1, Winter 1974, pp. 59-79.
Fisher reviews several critical interpretations of "Bartleby" and concludes that Bartleby symbolizes humanity as a whole.

Kaplan, Morton, and Kloss, Robert, "Fantasy of Passivity: Melville's 'Bartleby the Scrivener'," in The Unspoken Motive: A Guide to Psycho-analytic Literary Criticism, Free Press, 1973, pp. 63-79.
This article diagnoses Bartleby as a manic depressive and argues that the lawyer's passivity is an attempt to suppress aggressive and violent impulses.

Kuebnch, David, "Melville's Doctrine of Assumptions: The Hidden Ideology of Capitalist Production in 'Bartleby,'" The New England Quarterly, Vol. LXIX, No. 3, September 1996, pp. 381-405.
This article asserts that "Bartleby" addresses class conflict and exposes the false ideology of the capitalist class in New York during the 1850s.

Morgan, Winifred, "Bartleby and the Failure of Conventional Virtue," in Renascence, Vol. XLIX, No. 3, September 1996, pp. 381-405.
A lengthy essay focusing on how Bartleby's behavior reveals the psychological makeup of his employer.

Perry, Dennis R., "'Ah, Humanity': Compulsion Neuroses in Melville's 'Bartleby'," Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 24, No. 4, Fall 1987, pp. 407-15.
Perry argues that Bartleby suffers from neuroses because he cannot cope with Wall Street's social conventions.

A review of The Piazza Tales, in the New York Tribune, June 23, 1856. Reprinted in Melville: The Critical Heritage, edited by Watson G. Branch, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1974, p. 357.
A brief review offering some positive remarks about "Bartleby."

Stempel, Daniel, and Stillians, Bruce M., "'Bartleby the Scrivener': A Parable of Pessimism," in Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 27, No. 1, 1972-1973, pp. 268-82.
This article explores the parallels with, and potential influence of, Schopenhauer's philosophy in "Bartleby."