Examples Of Individualism In Bartleby The Scrivener

During the early 19th century, also referred to as the Romantic period, many writers, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, used the elements of Romanticism to develop nonconformity in the characters and tended to diverge from conformity and focus more on spontaneous thinking and beliefs. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne displays various Romantic elements to hyperbolize the protagonist, Hester Prynne’s, experience when she was apart from society. In the short story “Bartleby the Scrivener”, Melville shows Bartleby’s peculiarity and persistence as a scrivener and due to his strange background, it brings up mixed feelings between him and the people around him. The novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “Bartleby the Scrivener”

Due to committing adultery, Hester Prynne is rejected from society. She wears the scarlet letter “A” to constantly remind her of the sin and crime she has committed. Hester’s individualism helps her stand out from the crowd, even though she is looked down upon by others around her. Hester disregards the society’s opinion about her and continues to help out the community. Eventually, the society oversees Hester’s sin, and the significance of the “A” changes due to her magnanimity and helpfulness. The society viewed her helpfulness so powerful that “many people refuse to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original signification. They said it meant “Able”, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 148). Because of her generosity in society, the “original signification” was forgotten, and soon the letter “became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence, too” (Hawthorne 238 - 239). Hester wears the letter because it is an important part of herself and identity. Due to her strength and persistence of wearing the letter, it changes

Due to Bartleby’s personality, motives, and thoughts not being comprehensible, he is shown as a very puzzling character. Bartleby refuses to do anything in the office; instead, he just sits “in his hermitage, oblivious to everything but his own peculiar business there” (Melville, 50). The room in which Bartleby works has “a wall, and light came down from far above, between two lofty buildings, as from a very small opening in a dome…a high green folding screen, which entirely [isolates] Bartleby from [his] sight…[and] privacy and society were conjoined” (Melville 17). Bartleby’s view mainly consists of different “walls” that separate him from others around him and due to that the wall that is outside the window panes and “the high green folding screen” depicts the imaginary walls that Bartleby creates to isolate himself from society. Bartleby loses interest in the events that happen in the world around him and only prefers to do what he wants to do. Bartleby, similarly to Hester Prynne, is isolated from society, however, he chooses to isolate himself, whereas Hester is actually shunned due to her sin. In the start, Bartley by is very diligent and listens to whatever the lawyer tells him to do and copies everything accurately and quickly, but