Herman Melville's 'Bartleby'

What a Bartleby.World
What is Bartleby about? This is hard to answer. It would be easier to say what Bartleby is not about. The text is not about the life of a man, for there are no events; it is not about the workings of a scrivener, since for the most part there is no work actually done; it is not about the results of the actions of a man, as we can see in the story the final consequences come from his inactions. “Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable.” Is then Bartleby a real character? There is no background about him, nothing really happens to him, and he does nothing. In his first appearance he is described as “a motionless young man.” As he mentions in these lines, the narrator is intrigued by his lack
The one thing that we can immediately associate with the name Bartleby is his statement “I would prefer not to.” This statement is what brings the action and inaction within the story; everything derives from these words. He is very much unhuman; there are no emotions and no actions. He has been stripped of his humanity; all that is left then is mere idea. Bartleby, by having such a passive persona, has made himself an idea and has become the idea of nonparticipation itself, and in turn he has made of that a life statement, a philosophy. Therefore the name Bartleby becomes somewhat a metonym. The other characters have no names as they are indeed fuller characters. Nippers, Turkey and Ginger Nut have been given those nicknames according to their
Each name becomes the idea or representation behind it: John Jacob Astor, whose name itself “rings like unto bullion,” is given an important place in the text by making reference to him by his full name. He represents an overflowing accumulation of wealth and sheds light on, as Barbara Foley mentions, “not only the market in labor but also that in land, not only exploitation but also homelessness.” Byron, described as mettlesome represents not only poetry but art at a moment in which, with the origin of Romanticism, it was considered a reaction to political, economic, and social circumstances. Cicero encompasses philosophy itself; his thought was very much related to politics and in the story he works as a mirror to Bartleby in the sense that a mere bust (a still, lifeless figure) of him represents a political and philosophical statement. Marius, a Roman general called “the third founder of Rome” by Plutarch, represents statesmanship. Adam alludes to the presence of religion in society as a justification to our actions. Adams and Colt, make reference to crime, violence and, by association, to the fear that comes with them. This is a different kind of violence from that we had seen for example in Jack the ripper. There the whole community was involved and the crimes happened outdoors. Fear now comes from inside of our own personal spaces. There is nowhere to turn but into