Question

14. Explain the meaning of the words "Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance" (p. 304, Volume E) in "Bartleby the Scrivener".

15. What do you feel might happen to Melville's character Bartleby today, in real life?

16. In "Bartleby the Scrivener", how does Bartleby's past work in the "Dead Letter Office" (p. 321, Volume E) help explain his behavior in the story?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) (14) In the story, Bartleby goes from being assiduous to completely placid. Whenever he is asked to perform even the simplest tasks, he exhibits passive resistance by simply saying, “I prefer not to” in a calm yet firm manner. This puts his boss on tenterhooks. Although he is an earnest man, he does not know how to respond to Bartleby and is apathy other than through aggravation.

(15) Melville in today’s world might be perplexed at first, then report the problem to HR and submit a formal warning to Bartleby. A compassionate Melville might advise a professional counselor by assuming that Bartleby is undergoing certain psychological issues. However, a less tolerant boss might just fire Bartleby.

(16) Towards the end of the story, Melville finds out that Bartleby worked at the letter office to sort out letters with addressing issues that could not be sent out. This is why they were called dead-letters. Bartleby had to sort out letters and objects that were tools of failed communication. Although the end of the story is open-ended, it is clear that Bartleby’s participation in handling these dead-letters had an effect on his psyche which eventually led to his apathy for the work he did at Melville’s office. Perhaps he found that the satisfaction of being a dedicated employee was not enough to bridge the gap with the dissatisfaction he felt when he worked at the dead-letter office.