The Struggle for Power and Control Between Bartleby and The Lawyer

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The Struggle for Power and Control between Bartleby and the Lawyer In Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street “Imprimis: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is best”- Melville Melville intends something less black and white with more gray shading. Melville uses dramatic irony and grim humor in “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street. This is to show the reader how the Lawyer assumes he is a safe, successful and powerful man with extensive control in his polite society until he hires a man named Bartleby. This relationship is slowly revealed to be quite a conundrum for the Lawyer and the reader. Melville shows how the Lawyer never had any power or control over Bartleby but quite the opposite; Bartleby held all the power and control in this relationship. I will explore the important of the power struggle and the fight to maintain control between the Lawyer and Bartleby. The Lawyer assumes he has all the power when he is dealing with Bartleby. He states “he is an elderly man” (http://www.bartleby.com/129, p. 1) and has practiced law for thirty years. The Lawyer assumes that his age and experiences make him a better judge of what is right or wrong with the people he employs. The Lawyer also worked for a prominent member of his community, John Jacob Astor, and would like to think he is on a similar level as his idol. So, if a reader had any question of his qualifications this should suffice. The Lawyer exerts his power over his employees like Turkey, an employee he gives a coat not because Turkey needed a coat but because the Lawyer believes he should be more presentable if Turkey is working for him. Turkey di... ... middle of paper ... ...ployer, and then he will be rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve”(p.8) Bartleby doesn’t want to be saved; Bartleby desires not to conform to the etiquette that the Lawyers society places upon him. Bartleby wins in the end because he goes to his death holding on to his convictions. Bartleby controlled the relationship to the end of it and beyond. We as human beings assume we have our lives under control and we can exert some power over the situations in our lives. The Lawyer believed in a natural assumption of having the power and control over what he considered a lower less sophisticated class of humanity hence his employees in this story. Bartleby created a situation for the Lawyer he has never experienced before. The Lawyer learns in the end after Bartleby’s death that his rules of society may not be right for all of humanity.

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