ENGLISH 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Herman Melville
23 Jun 2018
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Herman Melville – “Bartleny: The Srivener, A Story of Wall Street”
Author: From New York, moved to Polynesia, after several years moved back to New
England. He wasn’t well known in his lifetime but recognized after his death in the 20th
century
The Text’s Resistance to the Reader
The story personifies the reading challenge in the form of the main character
Bartleby refuses to do anything – he refuses to yield to us as readers, very stubborn,
problematic, he also says nothing but “I prefer not to”
Questions to ask – How does the story put you in a situation where you are challenged and
have difficulty interpreting things, what does Bartleby refuse to?
3 ways in which Bartleby does not work:
1) Scrivener who doesn’t write –are hired to copy things and write things down but he refuses to
do that
2) A human subject who refuses agency—no will, no action, only preference and lack of action;
Bartleby refuses to participate in the field of intention and action
o“Will you, or will you not, quit me?” I now demanded in a sudden passion, advancing
close to him. “I would prefer not to quit you,” he replied, gently emphasizing the not.
oDwells in the subjunctive (doubtful) rather than in the active voice, subjunctive absorbs
the power of the imperative voice, refuses to translate it into action.
3) A literary object that resists being read or interpreted—refuses to yield “material” for a
biographical or theoretical account; the narrator tries to “make something” of him but
Bartleby refuses to participate in any aspect of this project—he will not be made productive
as either a labourer or an object of analysis. The narrator links his own status as Bartleby’s
“friend” to his pleas with Bartleby to be both useful and reasonable, as if these all go hand in
hand.
The thing VS the object
Theory of material things as separate from the object - Refers to a way of understanding how
material objects, that we use every day, we expect them to help us in material ways but they
also help us to understand who we are
All objects have this capacity to not work, when this happens we confront the thingness of
the object, its own existence that is separate from how well it serves us
Bartleby’s refusal to yield moral value
Bartleby prevents the flow of: office productivity & own interpretive productivity – he
refuses to allow himself from being consumed in the office or to be a symbol of
truth/message for readers
The narrator tries several times to make him mean something of value to the narrator himself,
but Bartleby refuses to yield moral use value - to satisfy the narrator’s desire to be charitable
It costs the narrator: patience, good will, office. To the very end, Bartleby refuses to “quit”
him, but also refuses to recognize him as “friend”— this refusal of the economy of
“friendship” in which people prove “useful” to one another that Bartleby refuses
Bartleby insists on dwelling within the machinery of business, law, and social networks
without participating in them, giving himself over to them. At the risk of imposing our own
exploitative interpretations on him (forcing him to mean something),
His refusal to be useful or to benefit from the use value of others is an attempt not to be used
up by and within systems that translate human subjects into various productive and profitable
values?
Subtitle “The Story of Wall Street”
Wall Street = New York’s growing financial district
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Herman melville bartleny: the srivener, a story of wall street . Author: from new york, moved to polynesia, after several years moved back to new. He wasn"t well known in his lifetime but recognized after his death in the 20th century. Bartleby refuses to do anything he refuses to yield to us as readers, very stubborn, The story personifies the reading challenge in the form of the main character problematic, he also says nothing but i prefer not to . Bartleby refuses to participate in the field of intention and action: will you, or will you not, quit me? i now demanded in a sudden passion, advancing close to him. Bartleby refuses to participate in any aspect of this project he will not be made productive as either a labourer or an object of analysis. The narrator links his own status as bartleby"s.
