Plot, Setting, Point of View, and Tone to Reveal the Theme of Bartleby the Scrivener
Four Works Cited In the short story, "Bartleby the Scrivener," Herman Melville employs the use of plot, setting, point of view, characterization, and tone to reveal the theme. Different critics have widely varying ideas of what exactly the main theme of "Bartleby" is, but one theme that is agreed upon by numerous critics is the theme surrounding the lawyer, Bartleby, and humanity. The theme in "Bartleby the Scrivener" revolves around three main developments: Bartleby's existentialistic point of view, the lawyer's portrayal of egotism and materialism, and the humanity they both possess. The three developments present the lawyer's and Bartleby's alienation from the world into a "safe" world of their own design.
The lawyer, although an active member of society, alienates himself by forming walls from his own egotistical and materialistic character. The story of "Bartleby the Scrivener" is told from the limited first person point of view of the lawyer, or narrator. This point of view allows the egotism and materialism of the narrator to influence how the story is perceived by the reader. The lawyer asserts, "All who know me consider me an eminently safe man" (Melville 131). The lawyer is a very methodical and prudent man and has learned patience by working with other, such as Turkey, Ginger Nut, and Nippers. However, the lawyer's constant concern with his own self-approval cheapens his benevolence toward Bartleby. In fact, the lawyer is not able to see the desperate plight of Bartleby due to his unwavering concern of what the scrivener can do for the lawyer's self-approval instead of what he can do for Bartleby. In this sense, the lawyer's "wall" is a sort of safety net for his own ego. He does not allow Bartleby's irrationality to affect him because he does not believe that such a thing exists or matters. His materialistic sense does not acknowledge Bartleby's mental problem as reality since the lawyer believes that only physical matter really exists. Irony appears in the fact that the lawyer works in abstract things, such as paper deeds, which are really not of any substance except in the fact paper is not abstract. In a sense, the lawyer's entire life revolves around objects and ideas which do not make sense to him although he is not aware of this.
Bartleby contrasts the lawyer through his existentialism and completely non-materialistic identity. Charles G. Hoffmann comments, "Traditionalism in the form of usefulness and methodology, self-interest in the form of ambition and survival: this is the rationale of the world into which Bartleby has entered" (109). Bartleby cannot survive in such a world where conformity is a necessity for survival. Bartleby believes the world is meaningless so he must create his own meaning through constantly challenging what other people see as normal conformities. Bartleby's defiance and questioning is shown in the words, "I would prefer not to" (Melville 137). The passive resistance exhibited by Bartleby totally confounds the lawyer. He has no chance of understanding Bartleby's epitaph of non-conformity because the lawyer cannot rationally explain why Bartleby refuses to obey him over seemingly normal requests. The problem is that Bartleby is not being rational. The existentialist point of view which Bartleby exemplifies directly contrasts with the lawyer's materialistic point of view. An existentialist finds the physical world meaningless and an abstract reality, while a materialist believes the physical world is a reality and the abstract is meaningless and unimportant. The lawyer and Bartleby are helpless to ever understand each other's way of thought.
The lack of understanding between the lawyer and Bartleby is portrayed in the lack of plot in "Bartleby the Scrivener." The simple story of the mentally bereft scrivener forces the reader to make his or her own conclusions about what sort of characters the lawyer and Bartleby are. Takashi Tsuchinaga observes, "[One kind of text] is conventional and read or consumed easily...The other is what perplexes the reader as enigmatic and calls for his active participation..."
(Tsuchinaga 4). Melville's choice to employ a simple plot to reveal complex characterizations of humanity shows the author's plan to make the reader interpret the theme for himself or herself. Without a complex plot, the author must use other elements of fiction to uncover variations in the lawyer's and Bartleby's outlook on society.
The walls of Bartleby conflict with the lawyer's walls, but both are designed to keep both the lawyer and Bartleby safe from the outside world. The lawyer's safe haven is where his office is: Wall Street. On Wall Street, the lawyer knows exactly what society expects of him. He is content with himself and his sense of conventionality and considers himself a representative human being. The lawyer considers Bartleby to be representative of humanity. The lawyer states, "For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam" (Melville 143). The lawyer originally places himself and Bartleby in the same context of society. However, the lawyer seems to recognize, at the conclusion of the story, the universality of Bartleby's plight. Leon F. Seltzer indicates, "Not simply Bartleby but everybody is essentially isolated in the prison of self and can break out of it only through illusions, whose fragility constantly subjects them to destruction" (119).
Bartleby's safe haven is also within the lawyer's office on Wall Street. Bartleby haunts the law office and is described as a ghost. By referring to Bartleby as an apparition, Melville hints to the reader that Bartleby is not a concrete character and will not be present for long. Bartleby feels safe behind the physical walls of the office because they allow him to hide from the world which he cannot survive in. When the lawyer finally moves out of the office and has Bartleby arrested as a vagrant, Bartleby finds himself in the Tombs (jail). Seltzer explains, "...by failing to find a means of reconciling themselves to the inward or outward darkness that confronts them, [they must] finally succumb to the darkness" (118). Without the protective wall, Bartleby must face the figurative wall that keeps him from conforming to society and joining a world where he could survive. He must either conform or die. Since Bartleby cannot conform, he has no other choice but to die.
The death of Bartleby can be viewed as either a victory or a failure of humanity. Bartleby dies while huddling next to the wall of the Tombs. The wall of the Tombs symbolizes the wall which Bartleby must face in order to make the choice whether to conform or die. Bartleby chooses the latter. Bartleby's death symbolizes his choice to leave the baffling and alien universe that he does not comprehend. The world alienated him because he could not conform, so he chose to alienate the world by making a choice to leave it behind. In this instance, Bartleby's death can seem like a victory for the existentialist man. Nevertheless, Bartleby's death can be considered a defeat of his struggle to understand and find safety in a world where he is unable to do so. The coinciding acceptance and rejection of his fate labels Bartleby as neither a victim nor a rebel, but as an ironically characterized man who is able to combine the two through his existentialistic view of life.
Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" applies a simple plot, a limited first person point of view, the setting of Wall Street, and irony to reveal the theme. Melville achieves complexity through the simplicity of the story and the reader's own interpretations. The theme portrays the lawyer's, or narrator's, and Bartleby's alienation from society into a safe world which they have designated themselves, symbolized by physical and figurative walls. Bartleby's existentialism and isolation, and the lawyer's egotism and materialism demonstrates the differing characterization of humanity they each possess.
Works Cited
Hoffmann, Charles G. "The Shorter Fiction of Herman Melville." [1953] Critics on Melville. Ed. Thomas J. Rountree. Coral Gables, FL: U of Miami P, 108-10.
Melville, Herman. "Bartleby the Scrivener." [1863]. Literature. 5th ed. Eds. James H. Pickering and Jeffery D. Hoeper. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice, 1997. 131-57.
Seltzer, Leon F. The Vision of Melville and Conrad. Athens, OH: Ohio UP, 119.
Tsuchinaga, Takishi. "Bartleby the Anchor." Journal of Rakuno Gakuen University 16 (1991): 1-13.
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