Suraj Melligeri - BP1T2

Blog Post #1  

1. Argue for or against this statement: Bartleby’s behavior is a reasonable response to his circumstances. 

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In Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener", we see Bartleby , a mysterious yet diligent scrivener who changes his attitude towards his work as we move through the plot. Bartleby, when first given the job, was very hard working, copying papers every day without leaving his office. But we see his that his behavior starts to change when the narrator requests Bartleby to review the papers he copied to which Bartleby responds with "I prefer not to".  As we move through the story, this line is used more and more often by Bartleby when eventually he doesn't do any work and sits in his office all day. This change in Bartleby's behavior may be due to the rumor that is revealed at the end of the story; the narrator figures out that Bartleby used to work in a Dead Letter office and had lost his job before becoming a scrivener.

I believe that his occupation of burning letters of dead people and copying pages upon pages of papers of law led Bartleby to be so mentally depressed to the point of him doing literally nothing was better than doing work.  We can clearly see the symptoms of Bartleby's depression as the narrator figures out that he has literally been living in the office since he took the job as a scrivener and also when he doesn’t touch the compensation money of about thirty dollars to move out instead choosing to just sit and do nothing in the office.  At one point in the story, Bartleby wasn't motivated enough to eat anything in when he in prison which eventually leads to his death.

   
His continuous refusal to engage in his work is notably followed by the phrase "I prefer not to" which reveals much of his character. In particular his use of the term "prefer" is unique in that often, one utilizes the term "prefer" when comparing two different subject matters. Although he does not directly address the other subject matter, one can infer a notion of hopelessness and a lack of motivation which ultimately confirms a state of depression.   

Some argue that Bartleby symbolizes Melville's feeling at the time he wrote this story and I agree with the aforementioned statement. Melville, at the time of writing Bartleby was thought to be depressed as two works that he had recently published were not well received by critics so Melville was under a lot of pressure financially due to having three children. He used to spend hours locked in a room writing novels and poems which had an impact on his physical and mental health. I think that while this argument is plausible, it is only one of numerous interpretations that emphasizes his sadness.  
In conclusion, I believe that the change in Bartelby was due to his depression from his work as most of Bartelby's symptoms suggest that he is indeed depressed. It also gives a somewhat universal meaning to the story that readers can relate to.  
 

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