Bogged Down In The Machine

"Bartleby, the Scrivener"

           by Hermann Melville 

I have to admit, when I first read the story of "Bartleby, the scrivener" by Hermann Mellville I was confused and disappointed. Why the hell did Bartleby act the way he did; even so, he didn't deserve the lonely death Melville gave him in the end of the novel.

 

Fortunately, after further analysis I understood the meaning behind the sadness. Bartleby didn't just die a meaningless death at the end of the story, he chose to challenge the capitalist society a which compartmentalized and organized each individual. The repetitious statement, "I prefer not to" that made me rather irritable was meant to be a blatant denial of the machine. Bartleby committed to a decision that was to protest the machine. Like the passive protests, which occurred in the 196os, Bartleby used simple and nonviolent means to contest the capitalist machine. I now have figured out that Bartleby is a stoic hero and fought with rationality against a profit driven culture--that takes a lot of courage.