Feb 28 2010
The Narrator vs. Cicero
I really enjoyed reading this short story. Bartleby’s indifference and passivity reminded me somewhat of Mersault’s from Albert Camus’s The Stranger, as well as Peter Gibbons’s from the movie Office Space. Being assigned to the “Literary Allusions and Other Moments of Literature” category of our Moby Dick blog, I was intrigued by Melville’s reference to Cicero and why the narrator has a plaster-of-paris bust of the Roman philosopher in his office. In addition to being a philosopher, Cicero was also a lawyer and politician. Despite his opposition to the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, his political positions were inconsistent and tended to shift in response to changes in the political climate. While this may be a very subtle reference, I feel that Melville makes it to draw a parallel between Cicero and the narrator, as well as emphasize the narrator’s inability to take a firm position on how to handle the strange character of Bartleby. In addition to this allusion, Melville sums up the narrator’s character in the third paragraph of the story; he writes,
I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best… I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause… All who know me, consider me an eminently safe man. (Melville 5)
Melville characterizes the narrator as a “safe man” who always takes the path of least resistance. While the narrator tries to learn about Bartleby and does seem to ponder about his situation, he finds it much easier to leave Bartleby behind and fend for himself. He would like to be charitable and selfless, but he never goes out on a limb to help Bartleby. He never actually asks Bartleby if there is anything that he can do for him; he can only ask Bartleby to do things for him.
References:
Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street.”http://www.enotes.com/bartleby-scrivener-text/bartleby-scrivener-1