The Mechanization of a Scrivener

"Bartleby the Scrivener", by Herman Melville, anticipates the future mechanization and dehumanization of many jobs in the marketplace. Bartleby, a poor scrivener for a Wall Street lawyer, and his integration in to his workplace are the focus of this story. Melville uses many different methods by which to display this process of removal of humanity from the workplace. The most important of these are his use of the scenery, his description of the type of labor performed, and the personalities of his characters.

Melville's imagery ofthe office setting presents the picture of industriousness on the one face while displaying the detrimental effects of this new found growth on the other. He does this effectively with the following statement, "My chambers were up stairs, at No.________ Wall Street. At one end, they looked upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft, penetrating the building from top to bottom...." and "...my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and everlasting shade; which wall required no spy-glass to bring out its lurking beauties, but, for the benefit of all near-sighted spectators, was pushed up to within ten feet of my window panes." The passage demonstrates how the skyscraper is not only a sign of big business; but also, how it draws away from what was previously considered a paramount necessity of all labor, the outdoors. Melville does well to acknowledge this discrepancy with the statement, "This view might have been considered rather tame than other wise, deficient in what landscape painters call 'life'."

Melville's wonderful use of imagery through his description of the duties performed by Bartelby and his comrades displays the loss of autonomy and the monotony of the job in which they are employed. Melville admits early on that a scrivener's, or "law copyist's", life story is that "at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep." This is a conveyance of the manner in which a man who looks for a filled soul would notice the loss of such satisfaction in Bartleby's position. Melville also makes many a mention of the tedium involved in such work as evidenced by Bartleby's running of "a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light" and noting that the proprietor "...should have been quite delighted with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically." This passage shows the debilitating effects of such an unfulfilling occupation.

The overall demeanor of the scriveners within the office also shows the irrational and zombie-like nature that such an inhumane profession conveys to its performers. This line of thought is easily shown with the continuously monotonous and non-committal response that Bartleby gave to all requests, "I would prefer not to." The rather erratic nature of his other two employees, Nippers and Turkey, whose "...fits relieved each other like guards." puts forth once again the idea that years of employ as a "law copyist" provides grounds for a rather different attitude and outlook on life.

Through the effective use of imagery and great manipulation of the language Melville relays the thought that a person's choice of profession can be detrimental to his/her overall fulfillment. Melville's first use of imagery, that of the office in which Bartleby is employed, effectively conveys the misconception that bigger is better. Melville proceeds from there to paint a brilliant picture of how unsatisfying the profession of being a scrivener is due to its monotony and loss of autonomy. The characters and their deviance from 'normal' personas is the last link in the chain with which Melville presents the residual effects of such a dehumanizing profession. "Bartleby the Scrivener" probes the question of whether or not the loss of humanity, autonomy, and the gain of monotony are worth efficiency and industry?

9/3/96