Bartleby Essay, Research Paper
Society and fate often restrict individuality and freedom of choice, and
Melville (in “Bartleby”) uses images of confinement, communication/lack thereof,
and instances of fate vs. free will to prove this. 1. The restriction that
society and fate put on people’s individuality and freedom of choice can be seen
through the images of confinement that Melville uses in “Bartleby”. 2. Bartleby
exercised his freedom of choice when he “gently disappeared behind the screen”
in the narrator’s office, but only because there was something else he wanted to
do, but couldn’t. 3. Bartleby is a mysterious character who does things for
reasons unknown to anyone else. 3. He one day just stops doing work, he hardly
ever, if ever, leaves his boss’ office (which is confinement), all he eats is
ginger nuts, and then he goes to jail for it, but nobody knows the reasons for
his actions and he doesn’t care to tell them. 3. It is clear by his actions,
that Bartleby although seeming to be exercising his right of free will, Bartleby
has to resort to confining himself in his employer’s office because there is
something else he wants to do, but can’t because of the tight restrictions
society has put on him. 2. At one point in the story the narrator describes how
“a voice came to me from within” the confinement of his office where the owner
of the voice had been all night, which would have been against the narrator’s
will had he known beforehand that the man was going to be staying there. 3.
Indeed the voice coming from within the narrator’s office was Bartleby’s, who
had stayed the night there with no hassles from anyone else because they knew
not of his decision to stay there for the night. 3. So, it was not until the
morning after that the narrator knew someone had been sleeping in his office and
using it as his home. 3. But Bartleby did not just occupy the office at night,
he also used it as his home during the day, confining himself behind the screen
wall. 3. Bartleby’s confinement behind the screen every day, and stay in the
office every night restricted him from taking part in certain actions that
people could normally do in their homes during the day or at night. 2. The
repeated phrase, “I would prefer not to” that Bartleby says throughout the story
shows the confinement of his thoughts being kept in his head. 3. Bartleby
refused to engage in conversation with other people in the story, and when other
people would try to engage in conversation with him he simply said that he would
prefer not to answer their questions, or do what they ask him to do, and that
was as far as conversation with Bartleby had gotten. 3. One possibility is that
he restricted himself from letting his thoughts go free, or beyond the
boundaries of his head for that matter. 3. The other possibility is that
Bartleby’s confinement restricted him from allowing his thoughts to exit his
head, no one will ever know for sure. 3. The reasons for Bartleby’s actions are
obscure to anyone, especially those who try to understand him, but some argue
that the reasons for his confinement in his employer’s office was because he
felt he could not find any better way to express himself. 4. Surely, the
restrictions of individuality and freedom of choice that society puts on people
in “Bartleby” can be seen through the confinement in the story. 1. The
restrictions that society puts on people’s freedom of choice and individuality
in “Bartleby” can be seen through Melville’s use of communication/lack thereof.
2. In one scene of the story, although the narrator had entered a room, Bartleby
“remained a fixture in” his chamber unmoved by his entrance into the room. 3.
Bartleby cared not that the narrator had entered the room, in fact, he probably
would have been happier if he had not even been put in the scene. 3. Bartleby
was a character who seemed to like to keep to himself, he did not really have an
interest in talking to other people or communicating in any way with others, he
would have much rather preferred to live on another planet all by himself with
the only supplies necessary for his survival: ginger nuts, shelter, and warmth.
3. Although his boss tried on numerous occasions (every day) to communicate with
Bartleby, to find out about his life or his purpose, Bartleby declined his
offers and stayed behind the screen wall most of the day doing nothing (or so
assumed nothing). 3. No one else tried to speak with Bartleby other than his
boss, and Ginger Nut, but only because Bartleby wanted food and had to ask him
to get the ginger nuts for him. 2. Bartleby’s signature phrase, “I
not to”, is an example of many things, one of which is the lack of communication
in the story. 3. Bartleby throughout the whole story makes it very clear that he
has no interest in talking to anybody and would much rather just keep to
himself, but people keep on talking to him. 3. In the story whenever anyone
would speak to Bartleby his answer (if he had one at all) would be that he
“would prefer not to” do something, or he “would prefer not to” answer a
question. 3. Well, as frustrating as this is, it is also very meaningful for the
characters in the story and the readers of the story. 3. It shows how society
(or an individual) has probably wounded or hurt Bartleby in some way in the past
therefore convincing him that he just should not bother with speaking to people
at all. 2. “I want nothing to say to you” is one of the few statements Bartleby
makes that is a change from “I would prefer not to”. 3. Throughout the story
Bartleby had no real interest, it seems, to speak with anyone. 3. When his boss
tried to speak with him he refused to answer any of his questions, and the same
when other people attempted to talk to him. 3. But Bartleby in this scene
actually stated that he did not want to talk with his former boss, for once in
the story he tells him that he has no interest whatsoever in speaking to this
man who has made incredible effort to get Bartleby to talk. 3. Some people may
say that this is a breakthrough point in the story because Bartleby finally
allows another human being to hear some of his thoughts, even if it is just in
one fragment of a sentence. 4. It is clear that in “Bartleby”, Melville’s use of
communication/lack thereof informs the reader that society and fate often
restrict individuality and freedom of choice. 1. The restrictions that fate and
society put on people’s individuality and freedom of choice can be seen through
Melville’s instances of fate vs. free will. 2. An example of fate vs. free will
in “Bartleby” is when Nippers, Turkey, and their boss were talking about
Bartleby and Nippers “strangely changed his mind” about his feelings about the
boss firing Bartleby. 3. In this scene, Bartleby has just upset his boss by
refusing to do something for the second time, and his boss is asking Bartleby’s
co-workers if they think he should be fired. 3. The co-workers are kind of
confusing people, it is almost as if each of them is one person in the morning,
and then another in the afternoon, they are very moody people and their feelings
about Bartleby are strong; Bartleby should give up the silent bit, and start
working and talking like a normal person. 3. The fact that Nippers’ mind had
changed shows how he was taking part in the act of free will on one hand, but
fate on the other. 3. If it was free will, then the boss did not fire Bartleby
and coincidentally he went to jail in the end a died. 3. If it was fate, then it
was meant for the boss to move offices and for Bartleby go to jail and die a sad
and lonesome death. 2. At one point in the story, after Bartleby had stopped
talking to people, he stated that he had “given up copying”, which in essence
means that he was officially quitting his job. 3. Although Bartleby had given up
speaking a few days earlier he now wanted to completely quit his job, because
his eyesight had begun to fail him, and still be aloud to stay in the building
day and night, this could have been an act of free will, or fate. 3. If this was
an act of fate, then Bartleby’s eyesight was meant to fail him so that he could
quit copying, force his employer to switch buildings, and then die in prison. 3.
If this was an act of free will, then all of that just happened as coincidence.
3. Whether it was free will or fate, no one can know for sure. 2. The best
example of fate vs. free will is whenever Bartleby says, “I would prefer not
to”. 3. That statement is the basis for the whole story and the motif. 3. If
Bartleby had just made that statement one time, then there would be no need for
a story because he could have easily gone back to work, but Bartleby made that
statement his favorite thing to say. 3. In response to almost everything phrase
made towards him, Bartleby had the same answer, “I would prefer not to”, no
matter what he was asked to do or say, that was his answer. 3. Bartleby’s life
was greatly influenced by this phrase that he so loved, so it could have easily
been either free will, or fate. 4. To sum it all up, Melville’s instances of
fate vs. free will help show the reader that because of fate and society
people’s individuality and freedom of choice are often restricted.