Nonconformity In Herman Melville's 'Bartleby The Scrivener'

Obedience To Authority In Class Essay Rewrite Society often tells us to both “think outside the box” and follow directions to be successful in this world. In Peter Elbow’s “Illiteracy at Oxford and Harvard: Reflections on the Inability to Write” he discusses the ideas of both conformity and nonconformity through a personal life story. In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” the effects of relentless nonconformity are shown through a fictional story about a scrivener named Bartleby. Although either choosing to conform or not may seem like a either-or choice, I believe a mixture of both of is necessary for success because it gives us the ability to stand out in a positive fashion for being individual while at the same time meeting the requirements of what needs to be accomplished. This is valuable because it allows us to advance in society in a respective manner where we don’t have to completely give our full
individualism away to society. If you completely blow off the requirements of what you are supposed to be doing in a certain process then you can not find success in it. We see this negative approach of doing what one is supposed to in Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” when Bartleby refuses to do mandatory tasks at his job. Whenever Bartleby is asked to review his copies he simply replies, “I would prefer not to” (7). Although Bartleby knows he is making a decision that is the complete opposite of what his job is supposed to entail, he still does it just because he simply doesn’t want to. His drive in life is to do exactly what he wants with no fear of consequence. ¶If we choose to live our lives in this fashion through our relationships, jobs, etc. then we can not find success in them. Sacrifices have to be made for things we do not wish to do all the time so we can advance in our lives. For example, I was given the opportunity to rewrite this paper. I could have taken Bartleby’s approach and refused to do so because I found it hard or because I already wrote one so why try again and put in the extra effort. Then I would receive an F on this paper and the money invested into college would then deem pointless if I flunk out. This is an irrational and irresponsible manner of nonconformity. However, if I had done the rewrite and used a personal example to work on my invention I would be both responsible in conforming by doing to rewrite and not conforming by using a personal experience to further my writing voice. This would lead to more success because I could improve my grade and improve my writing. Elbow builds upon this idea of balancing conformity and proper resistance in his article. Elbow discusses success as, “the ability to be extremely assertive or even resistant while at the same time managing to comply very well with the requirements” (32). Elbow is saying to be successful you have to resistant as long as you still meet the requirements first. I believe to stand out, you have to first know what it means to fit in. If I were to force myself to be different so I could stand out just to stand out it would not necessarily mean I’m being different in a good way. ¶What I mean by this is I may want to stand out in the way I dress. By wearing all non-matching clothes to do so I may be accomplishing looking different, but I am not looking good and being successful in being fashionable while doing so. To build upon my belief I’d like to draw a quick another comparison to the Elon Musk. Viewed as one of the greatest creative thinkers and minds of this lifetime. He is a nonconformist because he was the first to make electric cars that were viewed as luxurious vehicles. He chose to break those barriers and not follow the trend of generally viewed dinky electric cars. Yet, at the same token, he still has to conform to requirements of making a car such it’s structure, safety, and physics. If he does not meet these basic requirements then he can not build on them with new ideas and improvements. ¶Elbow would agree with my comparison that at first Elon Musk meets the “requirements” through the basic needs of the car such as safety features and then adds what makes him special and successful after meeting them. Elbow would say that you have to conform respectively by making the wheels, steering wheel, etc. to make a car. Then add his individual touches and genius that take it from being a car to a Tesla.
We often view conformists and resisters as two separate entities who don’t cross paths, but I believe we are not at our full potential as humans unless we are both.
A yin and yang balance between sacrifice through conforming and doing what our heart desires. Even those we think are living the dream life such as LeBron James has to wake up at 5am and work out all day and make that sacrifice to have the glory that he does. There is no glory is the conformist rat race, but there is no success in rejecting every norm that already exists because then you can not function at all in society like Bartleby. If LeBron was like Bartleby and skipped all his practices because it was easier to sit at home and not listen to his coach, he would never be in the Finals. We must first meet the basic requirements to satisfy societal norms in our respective fields so we can accomplish what needs to be done. Once we accomplish these basic societal requirements, only from there can we build on top of those with our own new ideas and styles to become the next game
changers.