"Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance." (13) This is so because there is nothing a rational person can do to combat a passive message. Should a group of people decide not to eat until their government complies with their demands, the government will feel the need to comply from a humanitarian stand point. There is nothing else that the government can do to prevent the death of its citizens and that would simply be unacceptable in the global spectrum of sociological science. The problem with passive resistance, however, is its failure to be recognized.
Melville's Bartleby has a purpose rooted deeply in this as its main character attempts to enlighten the working population to the indefinite strife of low level employees. Bartleby the man is opposing the monotony of life in a work place where production equals success. Essentially a talking Xerox machine, the scrivener uses passive means of resistance to make his main and is fellow subordinates understand the faults in their way of life. Melville does this by taking the downfalls of what was then modern day Wall Street and challenge them with title character's actions. As an employee whose only responsibilities included copying the narrator's documents and checking them for errors, there would seem to be no room for any kind of resistance due to the cut and dry nature of his employment. By using passive means, Bartleby wins over part of the narrator and makes his seemingly invalid argument suddenly explode with legitimacy. Even in death, when Bartleby becomes an unknown!.
martyr, his message is carried on. This narrative could be called the legend of Bartleby, as his message continues to be read and discussed over a century after it was written.
Also, to understand Bartleby the man is to understand his environment. Melville created a small social order in this text located on Wall Street in a small but effective law office.
I found Bartelby to be a humorous story. ... The story started off with Bartelby being one of the best writers. ... Although the boss is tempted to fire Bartelby, he cannot bring himself to do it. ... He then tried to tell Bartelby that he wanted him to leave the building Bartelby said "I"d prefer not to." ... In the end, Bartelby is arrested and assumed "insane" because he would not leave the premises. ...
Bartelby the Scrivener The Real Story Greetings reader, I am Bartelby. You may remember me from that terrible story about me told by that nameless narrator, he completely twisted the story to make himself look good. I can't believe that he told such lies about me in front of such a grand audience....
The Piazza Tales, By Herman Melville The Six Lengthy Short Stories The book that I read was The Piazza Tales. These tales were six short stories that consisted of The Piazza,Bartleby, Benito Cereno, The Lightening-rod Man, The Encantadas, and The Bell Tower. These six short stories were all aroun...
Additional pieces in our reading, such as Melville's Bartelby the Scrivner and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, indicate early American writers' ability and willingness to question the troubling things they witnessed among the society in which they lived. ...
Bartleby the Scrivener Bartleby was a very interesting character. It is difficult to imagine being so alone in the world that you have to live where you work. Not only his behavior but the things he said made me uncomfortable. His words did not fit in with his plan to stay and live there. He even refused to continue the work he was hired to do. ...
