“Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Herman Melville
Intro
• Scrivener = law copyist (before copy
machines)
• Turkey and Nippers are the nicknames of
other scriveners
• Read the passage on the next page; ask
questions if needed.
Shall I acknowledge it? The conclusion of this
whole business was, that it soon became a fixed
fact of my chambers, that a pale young scrivener,
by the name of Bartleby, had a desk there; that he
copied for me at the usual rate of four cents a folio
(one hundred words); but he was permanently
exempt from examining the work done by him, that
duty being transferred to Turkey and Nippers, one
of compliment doubtless to their superior
acuteness; moreover, said Bartleby was never on
any account to be dispatched on the most trivial
errand of any sort; and that even if entreated to
take upon him such a matter, it was generally
understood that he would prefer not to–in other
words, that he would refuse point-blank.
When do you think this passage
was written? What makes you think
so?
• 1800s
• Old words like “chambers” and “folio”
• Old concepts like copying documents by
hand
• Pay of four cents per page
Where do you think the passage
takes place?
• Some sort of office
– Copying pages
– Running errands
How do you think this setting
compares with office environments
today?
• Different – we have computers and copy
machines
• Same – employees who are difficult,
nicknames
How relevant do you think this is to
modern-day society? Can you
imagine a similar situation existing
today?”
• Similar relationships exist even if the work
is different
• Yes – there’s always that one employee
who is difficult, loses everything, or has
some other quirk that is inexplicably
tolerated
As you read the article “So You’re
a Nowhere Man in a Nowhere
World, Now Get Back to Work,”
answer these questions.
In what year did Herman Melville
finish writing “Moby Dick”? About
how many years later did he
die?
• 1841
• 50 years later
What are considered some of
Melville’s greatest works?
•
•
•
•
Billy Budd (novella)
The Confidence Man (novel)
The Piazza Tales (short story collection)
Moby Dick (novel)
Why, according to the article’s
author, was Melville’s work
largely forgotten during his own
lifetime?
• He was so far ahead of his time
Why does the article’s author
consider Melville “the forefather
of Kafka, and also of ‘Dilbert’”?
• It is the first story about office workplaces
and office culture.
What are some examples of film
adaptations of Melville’s work
that have been done in recent
years?
• Beau Travail (based on Billy Budd)
• Pola X (based on Pierre)
• Bartleby
Who wrote the most recent version
of “Bartleby,” starring Crispin
Glover in the title role?
• Jonathan Parker
• Catherine di Napoli
Where does this modernized
version of “Bartleby” take
place?
• A “surreal contemporary nowhere world”
Who plays the boss in this film
version of the story?
• David Paymer
What is “farce,” and how, according
to the article, does it help save
the story’s “literary gloom”?
• Farce: A comic dramatic work using
buffoonery and horseplay and typically
including crude characterization and
ludicrously improbable situations.
(dictionary.com)
• The humor balances the depressing
situation
How is the office setting of the
modern version of “Bartleby”
described in the article?
• “understated putrescence”
• Putrescence: becoming putrid: a state of
foul decay or decomposition, as animal or
vegetable matter; rotten. (dictionary.com)
Why is Bartleby’s “refusal…”
considered “at once suicidal and
heroic”?
•
•
•
•
He’s totally irrational
Yet totally understandable
We all wish to behave like this
But know we would lose our jobs
Why does the author consider the
short film “Upheaval” to be a
perfect compliment to the film
based on Melville’s “Bartleby”?
• It’s also stingingly critical
• But of the upper class and of marriage
relationships instead of the workplace
Bartleby Analysis Questions
Bartleby seems stubborn, self-absorbed, rebellious, and insubordinate, yet the boss and many readers sympathize with him.
Explain what feeling or desire we
have in common with him that
allows us to do so. Do we always
act on this feeling or desire? Why or
why not?
• Answers will vary.
Why does Bartleby use the word
“prefer” when refusing to work
rather than saying he “will not” do
something?
• It is a passive resistance;
• its passivity is bewildering to those around
him, preventing their own resistance;
• it subsequently wreaks havoc in the office
and the narrator’s life.
Why does Bartleby stare at blank
walls so much?
Remember that Melville is a Romantic author, thus finds meaning in nature –
consider how this contrasts with the setting in which “Bartleby” takes place.
• Bartleby is walled in, cut off from nature,
where he can find meaning.
• Note that at the end of the story he spends
time on the small patch of grass in the
prison.
• The industrial age and his mindless job
have ruined him.
What does Bartleby’s previous job
in the dead letters office suggest
about his character?
• Just as the letters cannot get to their
intended recipients, Bartleby is blocked
from achieving anything by being cut off
from nature and being disallowed
autonomy over his own life.
• Bartleby’s life is dead and meaningless
like the lost letters.
What is Melville trying to
communicate through Bartleby’s
death at the end of the story?
Many people assume
that Bartleby is just too stubborn or lazy – is that what Melville is trying to say?
• It shows how the industrialization of
America narrows the horizons of
individuals, reduces them to machines,
and kills their spirits.
What is the theme of this story?
Support your answer with evidence
from the story.
• People need purpose in their lives.
• People need contact with nature to be
happy.
• Reducing someone to a machine is
damaging to their spirit.
Romantic Story Analysis Chart
Interest in the common man &
childhood
• characters are common workers
• Bartleby seems innocent like a child
Strong senses, emotions and
feelings
• Narrator is confused & bewildered by
Bartleby
• Bartleby seems very depressed
Love of Nature
• Absence of nature leads to Bartleby’s
isolation, depression and death
Celebration of the Individual
• Bartleby is misunderstood by his society…
• but readers sympathize with him.
Importance of imagination
• Story is pretty realistic…
• …but lack of imagination kills Bartleby
Gothic elements
• N/A