The Tragedy of a Man

The apparition of Bartleby has confounded homoy wise men, scholars, critics and the like. The strange, close inhu hu art object being way Bartleby resisted his employer and all forms of cont mask seemed supernaturalPoe-ish, as virtually would say (Reed 1). Though in recent beats, the trading floor of Bartleby has been used as an allusion of the Communist struggle against the capitalist system.Thus, they explained that Bartlebys refusal to engage in the fix capitalist work is clearly an carry of defiance against the system and the historical vagueness and assground surrounding the story accentuates this implied class struggle.The tragedy of it all, in the end, centers on the limited aw atomic number 18ness of the fibber. His scrivener was non the originator of his tragedies it was his humanity, and fatal defects that could non save his copyist from certain doom. His lack of insight into the depths of the human any(prenominal)one and his consequent understanding of its w orkings rendered him unable to understand and aid his comrade. He was unaccompanied an ordinary lawyer caught in circumstances he could not understand though had he the sufficient expertise, the answer would afford been simple-minded as to surprise him.Bartleby, if he was any topic, was angry. No emotion could have set him so potently as to his detain contemptuous act upon himself and the world. For suicide is often approximation of as some great act of desperation or utter grief that all overpowers the individual and inspire him to escape. It is also an act of great contempt that is wanted to give a man the strength to destroy himself completely and blind him to all the protestations of his body.Thus, it was this rage that possess Bartleby. The narrator was too struck by the pitiable, forlorn countenance as considerably as quiet insolence of his scrivener to discover the terminate blazoning from inside. In all fairness to him, he was a well- equilibrate manas he readily confinetedfree from the mad fits and temperaments that has afflicted his scriveners. He could not t herefore have guessed Bartleby as anything else, as he sour that the man was well-rounded in in-personity.The woes of this misunderstood individual continues on, as Marxists channelise the tale hostage and use it as a weapon of their own. Bartleby give-up the ghosts a tool of their hatred, and example of a social revolution. In this essay, then, it is hoped to wrest it back to the individual billet and back to the man that is Bartleby. To accomplish this, one need glimpse at the perspectives of the Marxists and one divorced from the Communist circumstance from here it is hoped that the Marxist logic can be successfully deconstructed.This paper bequeath seek to fork out the soul of the story as well as the character immortalized in its pages. Citizen Bartleby Bartleby, the Scriveners unique Marxist boreits ability to identify with the class struggle and the woes of the capit alist system be inevitably pulled out by devil critics, Barbara Foley and Naomi Reed, by the use of differing perspectives. Foley ended this by de-focusing from the individual and giving more emphasis on the name used in the story and how it relates to historical crimsonts of that time.Thus, the mention of John Jacob Astor and terzetto Church, which coincidentally owned huge properties across the New York area where the storys office was located, become representations of the oppressive land monopolies (Foley 7-10). The narrators reducing his staff into idiosyncracies and an ideology of patronage (Foley 6) is representative of an unequal net sla genuinely and the ambiguity of the date by which the story probably took slur (through careful analysis it was found that there were too many inconsistencies in the dates), whitethorn have been intentional as to underplay the Astor Strike of 1849 (Foley 13-16).The last was re-emphasized with telling effectby citing Melvilles disillus ionment of the society of the elect(ip) and the similarities of an another(prenominal) Melville work, The Two Temples. Naomi Reed, meanwhile, while centering on Bartleby the apparition and the refined cadaver, relates him as such, by way of substance, to the commodity discussed by Marx in Capital. Bartleby is both of cardinal forms the ghost and the formula between bread and unlesster and final stage comparably, a commodity is both physical and non-physical, for it has non-material value (Reed 6-9).His insistent defiance on basic work, as well as other labors, is in fact a refusal to partake in exchangethe ideology tush his work (creating a perfect copy of the document) is that a copy may accurately portray an original document in exchange terms, a value of one disapprove may be substantially equaled by another. The scriveners act of refusing to vouch for the copy would be parallel of latitude to the rejection of the accuracy of exchange. Bartleby then represents Marxs com modity alienating itself from the market forces (Reed 9-12). These two concepts do hold ground, in relating the individual to his environment.Having admitted to this, a third, more in-person approach is to be taken the tragedy of Bartlebys anger and still aggressive tendency. Turkey and Nippers Prior to introducing Bartleby, the narrator first gives us a glimpse of his two other scriveners Turkey was an old man, of al most(prenominal) the selfsame(prenominal) age as his employer, while Nippers was twenty-five. Of the former, it is narrated that later on twelve oclock, this levelheaded copyist suddenly manifests discomfort throughout the day, carelessly spilling inkblots or bursting upon dyspnoeal objects with fiery zeal with little provocation.The employer hinted that this was due to old age. Indeed, fatigue and lack of rest would be enough to wear down the propriety of even the sternest of men, more so with old ones. For his part, Turkey would not, out of pride and the though t of wages being cut in half, do the sensible thing and stop work after twelve oclock. Nippers, on the other hand, is most irritated when he is brimming with energy. This is attributed to his youth though the narrator would much rather call it ambition and indigestion.He is impatient, rash and keen and would rather that the time pass and be done with his being a scrivener, as well as to finish his law studies. This here-and-now obsession manifests itself in his table, which probably symbolizes a hindrance to his objective. This impatience gradually dies down after lunch, as impetuosity is readily cured and becalmed by food. At the sight of his two scriveners open expressions of anger, the lawyer must not have then detected the same in Bartleby. Indeed, he was looking for a more-balanced individual, and thought that he found it in the man.He therefore was not a even out warned to the dangerous patterns within Bartlebys character. Prefer Not To The employer relates how he was daze d the first time he heard of Bartlebys quiet refusal. It was queerly odd, however, be motive there seemed to be no reason for this reluctancehe didnt volunteer anything he was ever quiet at his post, answering only when spoken to. He was therefore fuck upd with what would seem as unmingled insolence. Bartlebys answer I would prefer not to is a chaste passive voice aggressive response.The words not to are indeed an act of defiance and anger, though it could not be particularly directed anywhere. It was couched in the words would prefer because among passive aggressives, consternation is commingled with anger. He has a fright of direct confrontation, and readily believes his being weaker to those around him. To say a yes or no would already be such an example of confrontation. Recognizing the superiority of would-be(prenominal) oppressors, he provide express his anger, but try to make it as respectful a comment as possible.To a fairly balanced man like the employer, this self- contradiction is absurd and utterly unreasonable that is what makes it offensive. To a passive aggressive, however, it would be unreasonable to reveal a grievance. There are a myriad of reasons for this, but chief of them is the tending of rejection and condemnation as well as a need to retain some power against his oppressor. revealing his weakness would strip him of any control or power over the object of his contempt, and make him susceptible to denunciation.His silence then was due to fear for himself. It wasnt so much that he didnt want to say, he just couldnt. The employer could also have detected something dangerously amiss in Bartlebys refusal to do anything, except copy. He was clearly caught in some internal agony as to render him incapable of even the most mundane of tasks. He clearly needed help, and the lawyer could only ill-afford to provoke it. Infernal Solitude His employer was filled with great pity the minute he found out that Bartleby was living alone.The latte r did not socialize, knew no one, and for the most part kept to himself, using the office as a refuge. The narrator believes this as the source of the scriveners misery and in many chances as possible sought to connect to him. Tragically, however, Bartleby was trapped in a democracy of forced solitudewhile he might believe his landed estate deplorable (though we could only assume), he is nevertheless prevented by anger and fear from reaching out, and this paralysis and stasis aggravates his misery. Bartleby did not loathe company in his wasted way, he sought it.Through his dealing with the company errand boy, Ginger Nut, and that one time when he looked his employer square in the eye and said Cant you see it for yourself? the passive aggressive needs understanding, though he will offer no aid. The employer, stumbling through ways to help him, merely continues to frustrate his scrivener. Eventually the internal agony had debilitated Bartleby fully. Even copying had become a burde n that he would not bear. The lawyer was constantly discreet that he would be abandoning Bartleby if he did anything that was not to ensure his safety.He would have been right in assuming that his scrivener would have felt betrayed, for passive aggressives are generally resigned to their misery and see it as normal routine, and to those that they have stuck to with forlorn hope, failure would only accentuate the deathly gloom. His employer felt the barb of this have when Bartleby talked to him in jail. His statement then, and his subsequent refusal to eat can only be construed as part of his contemptuous act against self and those he feels has wronged him. last RedemptionThe significant sequel of the Dead Letters serves as the crossroads by which Bartlebys plight is fully understood. The employer later lamented of his finding the significant cause of Bartlebys desolation he had worked as a clerk making letters for relatives of the departed. The thought of constantly generating cor respondence to those who have recently missed probably destroyed him as a person. It was not only the act of breaking hearts it seemed as if acting as accomplice to murder. This soon developed to a form of self-loathing, and the genesis of the tragedy of Bartleby.There are two ways to interpret this The question that was unveiled in the third perspective was the source of Bartlebys anger. Throughout we have learned that it was generated towards self and collaterally to others. beneficence should be briefly expounded as centered on the act of life. The very nature of a human being is to act to preserve life eating, sleeping and even social interaction. The task of the Dead Letters was associated with the negation of life. Death. An supernatural and inhuman task, however mundane, will gradually wear down an individual.Bartleby became a specter of Death, opposed to life, and therefore opposed to the world, and to society. He was reluctantly opposed, as by nature he was disposed(p) to life. He felt this resistance unconsciously, and felt that all anger is directed against him. Passive aggressives have a source of hatred before the self. As a human being, Bartleby was inclined towards life, and was thus opposed to the Dead Letters system from the beginning. Gradually, his resentment went inward, as he needed the wage and could not conveniently express his anger.He became the figure of anarchy of the individual against the dehumanizing elements of his system as well as universal social forces. Reed had a point when she said that this was an act of rebellion against the system. She was, however, wrong in the sense that Bartleby is not a commodity to admit to this truth would assume that the scrivener is equal to the commodity, comparable to the inanimate object of Marxs work. Using her concept, this is an act of equality that cannot be vouchsafed. There is nought dehumanizing slightly circulation, and exchange.The practice of work was not a product of capita lism, but social interaction. Bartleby was merely opposed to the inhumanity of the system, which he was thrust into. He therefore could not trust it, and would not trust it. Having experienced the touched task in the Dead Letters office, those that are detached from personal living though not overtly or even covertly opposed to life, would seem the same. This then would explain the scriveners insisting of detachment of his private and public life.The Marxist analysts say that the subtitle A Story of Wall Street precludes the social forces that are implied within Bartleby. It must not, however, be forgotten that this is a story about Bartleby, the Scrivener, about an individual finding himself before the deathly coldness of Wall Street. He is the individual in the center of his environment. To belittle him, as Foley would do in her analysis, would again dehumanize him. To make him a slave to social forces, and the context of labor and the collective, would be like the lawyer who co uld not see the man crying out from within.Maybe, he had an indication of his desolation, but trapped within institutions as cold as the buildings that house it, he had not the acquaintance to reach out to him. The lack of scenery around the office windows may agreeably be an allegory to his blindness. His omission of going to church may have become a defect, as he was faced with humanity, and the sermons could at least have taught him how to act before it. The scrivener could not be saved within the pages of the story. The soul of his being, however, has been snatched from the perils that haunted his life.It is hoped that in this simple communicate of understanding, Bartleby may find in death what he could not redeem in life humanity. BIBLIOGRAPHY WORKS CITED Foley, Barbara. From Wall Street to Astor Place Historicizing Bartleby. American Literature 72. 1 (2000) n. p. Reed, Naomi. The Specter of Wall Street Bartleby and the Language of Commodities. American Literature 76. 4 (2004 ) n. p. REFERENCES Melville, Herman. Bartleby, the Scrivener. The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to briefly Fiction. Fifth Edition. Ed. Anne Charters. Boston, MA Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. 984-1010.