The Savior Complex

The narrator of “Bartleby, the Scrivener” spends a large portion of the story covering his tracks in terms of guilt by adding long paragraphs of reflection and analysis not only on Bartleby, but also in justification of his own actions. Since the narrator is recounting a story from memory, these divergences from the basic storyline can be read as factual memory; however, given the subjective nature of memory, they provide more insight to the reader through the lens of analysis on the authenticity of the narrator’s voice. Throughout the entire piece, there are subtle implications of the narrator’s superior nature and self-righteous perception of himself and this specific passage concretely illuminates his manipulation of words in order to cast himself in the best light. By actively demeaning and belittling Bartleby by saying that he has no control over himself and, therefore, cannot be punished for his actions, the narrator attempts to cover up his clear superiority complex towards Bartleby by giving him the role of the helpless victim. The narrator does the same with himself, using the positive language of friendship and value in order to paint the otherwise complex emotion of pity into something clean-cut like benevolence. He employs the subtle implication of his kindness through hypothetical comparisons and objective observation. The narrator uses the language of incapability to take Bartleby’s agency away and create a victim-hero dynamic in which he can justify his actions throughout the piece as not only necessary, but also selfless.

A closer extrapolation of the language used to describe Bartleby’s passivity will reveal that under the shroud of sincere observation, the narrator is subtly creating a simply superficial shell ...

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...tive set up of himself as the infallible hero and then eventual, but subtle, admittance to selfish gain, mirror’s the larger progression within the entire story. By opening up with the objective scenario of “an earnest person” and an individual with an “inhumane temper”, the narrator sets up the biases of the situation early on by placing himself and Bartleby into set roles. He then moves on to say that he will act “charitably” towards the “poor fellow,” creating a victim-hero dynamic. He comes around at the end, however, and reveals his true intention of preserving “a sweet morsel for my conscience” in that by attempting to delude himself, and hopefully the reader, into believing his sincerity in helping Bartleby, he inadvertently points directly to his insincerity by citing a healthy conscience has one of his key motivators in his supposed tolerance for Bartleby.