Soren Sadr
The cover of Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street

Soren Sadr

Professor Joe Harris

Essay 2

11/30/2020

“I’d Prefer Not To: Being bullied by capitalism ”

The story centers on a copyist for a law firm. The lawyer has two copyists and needs one more; he hires one young man named Bartleby. For the first few days, he was very efficient in his work and accurate too. All copies are meant to be examined for utmost accuracy; therefore, when Bartley does not do so, the lawyer calls him. He answers by saying that he prefers not to. The lawyer does not expect this from an employee and is, therefore, speechless. Later on, there is another large document that needs all the employees to take part in examining. Again, he calls upon Bartleby to join in, and too, he gives the same reply. The lawyer is sure that his next course of action should be to fire him but is also surprised by his choice to continue working. He continuously notes other behaviors with Bartleby, where he would refuse to eat and accept other snacks. He also continually refuses to examine his papers, giving the same answer. This forms the basis of the question, what exactly is the purpose of his choice not to do anything he is asked to.

One Sunday, when the lawyer stopped by the office, he realized that Bartleby had taken office to be his home and was therefore living there. Although he pities the sad life he is living, the lawyer is also concerned about Bartleby’s stay in the office. Later, he also tells the lawyer that he plans to stop writing entirely. However, he continues to stay at the office. The lawyer, like any other employee, sees his stay at the office without working as an injustice on his side. He, however, does not have the strength to kick him out. The lawyer decides to allow him to stay without necessarily having to work. Unpleasant remarks from a client, however, force him to make peace that having him the office would ultimately cause him business. He, therefore, opts to leave, as Bartleby would not leave. A few days after leaving, the lawyer finds out that Bartley was hanging inside the building all day. He tries to speak to Bartley, telling him that if he continued to stay in the building, he would eventually be arrested. He even offers him a chance to stay in his own home, but again, he refuses. Later on, the lawyer finds out that Bartleby had died. Sad as it may seem, his silence had cost him his life.

Bartleby the Scrivener is a short story detailing aspects of passive resistance. In the short story, the narrator is faced with the constant need to prove to the reader that there is nothing as substantial as a passive resister. The narrator refuses to give in to the demands of his employer and chooses to work on his terms. He repeats his refusal to do anything he is told repeatedly, to the point that he even refuses to perform a simple task such as copying documents. Although he is generally smart and hardworking, he refuses to do simple tasks simply because he wants to prove it. It is through refusing to do what he is told that he shows just how powerful he is. Barely three days after he gets the office job on Wall Street, his boss asks him to examine a paper with him, but he simply says that he would prefer not to.

The phrase ‘I prefer not to’ has been used exhaustively in this short story, forcing Bartley’s colleagues mad. He has nothing to say, but instead that he prefers not to say it, which is even worse. The word ‘prefer’ creates the paradox in this story, the fact that the statement is not polite, but an opposing force driving the reply. Although Bartley refuses politely, he also gives a condition ‘would’ that proves that not talking is not the only option he had. He only chose not to speak. His depiction of politeness is merely an illusion as he refuses to do anything he is told to. The paradox in the story is appearing like doing what is asked, while in the real sense doing nothing. Bartley’s silence is compelling as he disarms both the narrator and the reader. There is also an illusion that there is something else Bartley would instead do. Whether this is true or not, the story does not say as Bartley opts not to say anything. The word ‘prefer,’ therefore, becomes contradictory as it is ambiguous all through the story. Bartleby’s loss of appetite and drastic health deterioration is a clue to his character. From the story, one can tell that he does not appreciate change, as he clearly states that he would prefer not to make any changes. He also says that he would rather be stationary. He, therefore, does everything from one place, including eating, working, and sleeping. He believes that if he moves from this one place, he stands the dangers of being exposed to the public, which he also does not like. When he makes documents, he is not open to compare his work with other colleagues, as this, too, would mean having to interact with other people. Again, he does not want that. His main goal is to remain in solitude and make sure that nobody knows him other than himself. Ultimately, he stops taking nourishing meals, which leads him to become anorexic. This is also prefiguring that shows him refusing to take more work. Through these characteristics, one can tell the kind of person he is. Other than being silent, he also opts to be a loner. Melville, therefore, manages to use eating and digestion frequently as metaphors. Before the arrival of Bartleby, everybody performs their roles in the office with the utmost professionalism, even with the slight dressing and behavior errors. This shows the effect he had on them after he arrived.

The silent power and refusal is also depicted in ‘how to do nothing’ by Jenny Odell. Silence is the small gap between what one feels and how they respond. In her story, Jenny suggests that refusing works as a reminder that we are still alive and always have a choice, even when it seems like we do not. As humans, we always have a variety of images, words that serve as options. There is nothing wrong with choosing to stay quiet or refusing to tell what choice one has made. She also wants to explain that refusal does not have to be violent and like Bartleby simply and politely we can prove our point that we prefer not to pay attention to capitalism. Loneliness, being isolated from the outside world, and lack of socializing all impacted Bartleby’s personality and his life. Social media and technology are like the break wall outside of Bartleby’s office. They all are stopping us from finding out a reality and seeing a true world itself. In ‘How to do nothing’ Jenny Odell is not only explaining how capitalism is causing isolation in our society, she talks about her personal experience and how she came up with that conclusion. I believe being isolated is a personal choice and people in this society are being forced to be isolated without realizing it. Bartleby chose to be isolated and refused to experience the outside world which led him to live a depressed life and cost him his life.

In conclusion, capitalism is the reason for isolation and any inequalities that exist in society and the workplace . The sole way to destroy capitalism is ‘usefulness of useless’ or refusal. We should not be like Bartleby isolate ourselves from the outside world, but we must act like Bartleby and stand against capitalism and change it like Bartleby changed the narrator (capitalism).

https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DyUBA_KR-VNU%26t%3D35s

This is a short video of Herman Melville Bartleby the scrivener.

Work Cited:

Melville, Herman. Bartleby, the Scrivener: a story of Wall-street.
['Soren Sadr']
['Socialism', 'Personal Growth', 'Personal Choice', 'I Would Prefer Not To', 'Refusal']