Bartleby, Antigone and the Law

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the character of Bartleby, in Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener," stands in opposition to the tacit 'laws' of civilization. The paper then looks at how Sophocles' "Antigone" presents the law of the state in a conflict between individuals, with the character of Antigone embodying the will of the individual standing alone in righteous defiance.

From the Paper:

"The character of Bartleby, in Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, stands in opposition to the tacit 'laws' of civilization, which seek to create a structured, complex and supposedly rational world. Its 'laws' are intended to create order and protect the happiness of mankind, which was greatly disturbed by Bartleby's obvious pain and his meek, yet firm, "I would prefer not to" . The narrator makes concessions to Bartleby in a type of sympathy: "[t]here was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but in a wonderful manner touched and disconcerted me" . Bartleby's manner of existence pulls the veneer of superficial happiness off of those 'laws' and social codes of civilization, revealing something more deeply human to the narrator and threatening the order imposed upon life around him."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Melville, Herman. "Bartleby the Scrivener." Twelve Short Novels. Ed. Ray Sherer. Holt, Rinehart andWinston, Inc.: New York, N.Y. 1976. Pp. 20-42.
• Sophocles. "Antigone." Sophocles: The Three Theban Plays. Trans. Robert Fagles. PenguinBooks: New York, N.Y. 1984. Pp. 54-128.

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