| I am not sure if "Bartleby" is necessarily a fable about corporate structures. Like Eben pointed out during class, the Wall Street in this story is not the Wall Street we know now. I find it difficult to see Bartleby as a corporate cog when I look at the context of the story, although it is definitely a good analogy when we look at it from our perspective now.
I think "Bartleby" is about the salvation of all of our souls, lawyer or not. I am probably (definitely) projecting (but that's the beauty of literature), but I think that Bartleby is depressed - and Bartleby is a part of the narrator that he tried to suppress/cut off from himself. I mean, if you knew a person that acted like Bartleby, you'd be very concerned, think he was depressed, and try to get him some emotional help. Many people go along with life, while a part of them is thinking "Does my life have any meaning as I am leading it?" and many people suppress/cut off their depression/anxiety whether with the help with psychiatric drugs or no. But I also think that part of us is where our humanity, and the ability to be happy and find meaning, lies. I think that is why the story ends with the line, "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!" The way I see it, the narrator finally lost his humanity (or a bit of it) when Bartleby died. Like Skylar and Courtney have pointed out, I think Bartleby is that part of us that would be easier to be rid of, but need very much, in order to be whole.
-- AgnesPetrucione - 30 Mar 2012 |