The Uncompromising Code of Bartleby the Scrivener Essay -- Bartleby Sc

The Uncompromising Code of Bartleby the Scrivener There are certain neighborly codes that we are expected to follow. They are too numerous and obscure to know-but for the most part, they dont need to be known. The unspoken, unwritten set of rules we are obligated to live by are subtly imbued in us from birth. When we live outdoors those boundaries and follow our own desires, we are walking on thin ice. An eccentric choice in wardrobe or peculiar habits can make the difference between being considered an individual who thinks outside of the box, or just a plain old lunatic. When someone refuses to truss to our social codes, they become suspect. But what drives them, enables them to refuse in the first office? Melville seemed to have a good idea of what it feels similar to be in such a position. The American Tradition in Literature discusses how like Bartleby, Melville was a scrivener, or writer. Melville also refused to copy out the ideas of others, or counterbalance his o wn, in response to popular demand. He too preferred to withdraw(Perkins 1564). So far it sounds like Melville was almost certainly creating something out of himself. Additionally, Melville distrusted the economic irresistible impulse of society he resented the financial assistance of his wifes father(1564). This story comes from an mechanic reliant on only himself, true to his own nature. Bartleby is merely an hyperbole of this individual way of thinking. Melville presents a distorted image of independence from genteel constraint, one that goes so far that it results in a sort of social anarchy. But considering the scriveners background, it isnt hard to understand how he came to be such a social miscreant. Bartleby comes to his employer from a dead l... ...o the boss every once in a while-or to our spouse, our family, people on the street. No, you cant cut into my lane. No, you cant check out onwards of me even though youve only got the one can of beans. No, you cant change t he channel, or ask me to pick the children up from practice. How easy to give up. How easy to permit the responsibilities rest with another. We already know what rewards the other men have reliable for their admirable and semi-socially acceptable behavior. Neurosis, alcoholism, ulcers, and envy. All things considered, it seems that Bartleby is the most sound of them all. Works Cited Perkins, Barbara, and George Perkins, ed. The American Tradition in Literature. BostonMcGraw-Hill College, 1999. Perry, Dennis R. Ah, humanity Compulsion Neurosis in Melvilles Bartleby. Studies in Short Fiction 24.4 (1987) 407-415.