Bartleby, The Scrivener; The Minister's Black Veil. Individual And Society

“Bartleby, The Scrivener” and “The Minister's Black Veil”.
Individual and Society.

Introduction
In this essay I will compare and contrast Herman Melville's «Bartleby, The Scrivener» (1853) and Nathaniel Hawthorne's «The Minister's Black Veil» (1836). A quick summary of both texts, an analysis and the historical context will be given with a special focus on the individual's relation tosociety and vice-versa. The symbolism in both texts has been analyzed from several scholars' points of view; Not with the intention of finding the right answer, but merely expanding the interpretative dimension of the stories.

“Bartleby, The Scrivener”
An advertisement is hanged soliciting a scrivener at an office in Wall-Street, and the ad was answered by a weird-looking person called Bartleby.The older lawyer has already employed two men who help him in the task of copying important documents, but these men are quite unstable half the day. Bartleby proves himself quite useful and works hard the first days until he is asked to help his coworkers review some documents. He disobey his employer by saying “I prefer not to”. The Lawyer, who also is the narrator, is perplexed by the answer. Asthe story develops, Bartleby refuses to work completely, and stands all day staring at a wall through the window. The lawyer sees himself in a complicated position, so he moves to another office. Eventually Bartleby gets arrested and sent to prison where he spends his time staring at the wall in the prison-yard until he is found dead in a fetal position and with his eyes open.
Probably one ofthe most enigmatic characters in American literature, Bartleby has a awkward and shy personality. H. B. Franklin (2002) states that to analyze Bartleby we must admit that, since almost no information about him is known, he can represent anything from an insignificant strange human to the reincarnation of God himself. When the last possibility is considered, Franklin draws parallels to Matthew 25and to christian ethics. Peter shows complete charity to Jesus Christ as a stranger (the least of men). This relationship resembles that of the lawyer and Bartleby, where the lawyer was not able to speak harshly to him because he felt “Something superstitious knocking at my heart, and forbidding to carry out my purpose.” The lawyer even denies to the new occupants of the old office any acquaintancewith Bartleby three times (the same amount of times Peter denies Jesus Christ in Matthew 26):

1 “`Then, sir` said the stranger, who proved a lawyer, ´you are responsible for the man you left there...´”
“I am very sorry, sir... but the man you allude to is nothing to me.”
2 “In mercy's name, who is he?”
“I certainly cannot inform you. I know nothing about him.”
3 “In vain Ipersisted that Bartleby was nothing to me – no more than any one else” (pg 1113)

Bartleby as well as Jesus Christ are the victims in their own time and age, where society considered them to be strange and were punished merely by their awkwardness. With Matthew's gospel in mind the story seems fairly easy to interpret, but only if we ignore the existence of the wall.

“I would prefer not to”Bartleby's mantra has an absolute meaning. E. Hardwick (2002) argues that Bartleby's “I” is so complete, due to his character, that it represents his past, present and future. “Prefer” indicates his will to chose for his “I”, and “not” is the refusal that hurts society coming from such a passive voice. Rarely in literature has any character expressed so much by saying so little. He feels the necessityto abandon his work and meditate on something unknown to the rest. He then mildly disappears behind his thin green screen that protects him from the eyes of the lawyer. This screen is his first “wall”, a weaker wall of immediate reach for others, but for him his last free place. It's exactly from his last free place he gathers strength for his final and absolute refusal.

The Wall
The wall...