Moby Dick

The most distinctive part of Bartleby’s personality in this story is his peculiar refusal to carry out the most ordinary tasks. This got me thinking: what is he actually refusing? He is refusing more than simple orders to make a copy, phone call, or drop off some papers. There is no way Melville could stop there: this refusal must symbolize something greater than Bartleby, greater than the office, greater than Melville himself (it is also possible that I have grossly high expectations of Melville when it comes to embedded symbolism and allegory after reading Moby Dick). The way I interpreted his refusal was in relation to Mahatma Gandhi and his “passive resistance.”

The phrase “passive resistance” embodies Bartleby’s quirk: he does not argue, he does not complain about being ordered around, he does not offer an explanation even when asked directly. But out of context, the phrase “passive resistance” means much more. Gandhi advocated peaceful and nonviolent opposition as another option. The goal was the same: to achieve social and political accomplishments, but the methods were different. No war, no violence, and in Bartleby’s case, the less extreme: no arguing, no complaining. Gandhi was the spiritual and political figurehead for those fighting against oppression in India. Bartleby is fighting against the common, everyday mundanity and minor oppression in American office life.

I could possibly take this further and say that Bartleby’s use of passive resistance symbolizes either his or Melville’s general distaste with the economic control of the American bureaucracy. Bartleby himself is described as liking money, and his boss is no better, therefore the resistance to corporate America would be all the more powerful when coming from someone as money-focused as Bartleby. One could easily do a Marxist reading of this story and call Bartleby the representative of the entire proletariat: starting small by refusing insignificant office orders, and making his way to a full blown revolution. I am completely aware how ridiculous this sounds, however I think a lot of literary weight rests on the phrase “I prefer not to.”