The Deterioration of Society

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street displays the dismal deterioration of society through the interaction of Bartleby and the charitable narrator. Through Bartleby’s lax attitude towards his work in refusing to assume even the simplest jobs from the narrator clearly expose Bartleby’s refusal to incorporate the old ways of charity and hard work. The author, Melville, is sending a powerful message about how the new ways of laxity and negativity are deteriorating society as a whole.
At first the narrator reacts the logical way to a worker not showing promise. He turns to fire him. “I buttoned up my coat, balanced myself; advanced slowly towards him, touched his shoulder, and said, ‘The time has come; you must quit this place; I am sorry for you; here is money; but you must go.’” (Melville para 138) Of course after saying this, Bartleby replies with his famous, ‘I would prefer not to.’ The narrator is then amazed when Bartleby doesn’t take the extra money he offers and shows up to work. Bartleby’s attitude continued to stun him as he replied again that he would prefer not to quit. At this point it seems there is nothing the narrator can do to free this man from his own pressing negativity and laziness.
The narrator then realizes that the answer is not to fire Bartleby. “What shall I do? I now said to myself, buttoning up my coat to the last button. What shall I do? what ought I to do? what does conscience say I should do with this man, or rather ghost. Rid myself of him, I must; go, he shall. But how? You will not thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal,—you will not thrust such a helpless creature out of your door? you will not dishonor yourself by such cruelty? No, I will not, I cannot do that. Rather would I let him live and die here, and then mason up his remains in the wall. What then will you do? For all your coaxing, he will not budge. Bribes he leaves under your own paperweight on your table; in short, it is quite plain that he prefers to cling to you.” (Melville para 171) The narrator’s regarding of Bartleby as a ghost sheds a new light on Bartleby’s character, dictating his negativity and depression seems to be outweighing his negligence. Perhaps his laxity was because of this inward darkness. The narrator then decides that, since Bartley wouldn’t leave him, he would leave Bartleby.
Bartleby’s character is both perplexing and depressing. At large, he is a man who seems to have the inability to comply, whose tongue can only form words of defiance and negligence. He is a man who cannot let himself enjoy life, who cannot give in to happiness, but must continually press on in dreariness. The narrator thought well to regard him as a ghost of a man.
Melville is hinting at a far larger sphere than Bartleby in his text. His aim reaches to society as a whole and a new trend of leisure and negativity. Such is reflected in the last statement of the text, “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!” (Melville para 251) Clearly the narrator is not only frustrated with the lax copyist, but with humanity as a whole.
There are several symptoms that are displayed in Bartleby, which are hinted to be present in society. First off is rebelliousness. Surely Bartleby was most practiced at replying to any request, “I would prefer not to.” Bartleby is so content on replying thusly that even when the narrator offers him an extra sum of money, he still replies in the like manner. It seems that Bartleby is so devoted to defiance that he rebels simply to rebel, and not necessarily because that’s truly how he feels. Perhaps there is a thrill that comes from rebelling, from being different. Though Bartleby’s intentions are somewhat shrouded, as it is written in the point of view of the narrator, it is quite plain that he is rebelling just to rebel.
Another symptom displayed in Bartleby is depression. Once again, the narrator refers to him as a ghost, making a clear statement concerning his dismal nature. “For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not-unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam. I remembered the bright silks and sparkling faces I had seen that day, in gala trim, swan-like sailing down the Mississippi of Broadway; and I contrasted them with the pallid copyist, and thought to myself, Ah, happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay; but misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none.” (Melville para 89) The narrator compares those who seem to prove that there can be no misery to one as dismal as the copyist Bartleby. It also seems that melancholy is as contagious as any other disease and is spreading to the narrator. Thus such a condition of depression can very easily span to society as a whole.
The third and final symptom is laziness. Bartleby refuses to work, indicating society’s new trend of refusing to labor, falling prey to convenience and leisure. Bartleby’s adage “I would prefer not to” once again would be highly applicable here in displaying his laxity towards anything that requires even the most infinitesimal amount of exertion.
In Melville’s, Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street, Melville makes clear hints towards the deterioration of society. Through Bartleby, we see evidence of defiance, depression and laziness. Our eyes are opened to what could very well be plaguing our society if we don’t watch ourselves.


Work Cited:
Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street” 1853. Bartleby.com