The Death of Humanity in The Overcoat and Bartleby the Scrivener - Essay Example

The Death of Humanity in The Overcoat and Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener and Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat are, at first glance, very similar in terms of plot, characterization and ideology. Both protagonists are scriveners who are portrayed as the exploited laborers in a capitalistic society. Bartleby and Akakievitch die due to malnutrition of life's basic needs, an image that is symbolized by their reluctance to maintain a proper diet. They are uncommunicative, isolated and repressed. Their deaths go as unnoticed as did their lives. Amid all these similarities, however, stands a stark contrast in narrators. The reader's reaction and emotive responses to the deaths of these gentlemen are different for each story because of the narrators. Both stories, as discussed, are similar and these similarities will be dealt with swiftly. Akakievitch is described, in every way, as a second-class citizen, an exploited laborer at the mercy of an unjust society. "He was what is called a perpetual titular councilor, over which, as is well known, some writers make merry, and crack their jokes, obeying the praiseworthy custom of attacking those who cannot bite back" (Gogol, 1). His appearance matched his unfortunate status in life "-short of stature, somewhat pock-marked, red-haired, and short-sighted, with a bald forehead, wrinkled cheeks, and a complexion of the kind known as sanguine." (Gogol, 1)"His superiors treated him in coolly despotic fashion" (Gogol 2). Bartleby gives us the same impressions. The narrator saw him as "pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, and incurably forlorn!" (Melville, 5) and was also 2 employed as a scrivener for very little money. Both men die because they cannot function in a world in which they have no control, a world in which they feel isolated and mistreated. Akakievitch dies from a fever with which he is afflicted because his new overcoat is stolen, a coat for which he has sacrificed and obsessed over for many months. His obsession could very well be seen as the cause of his demise, but it was the one thing he could control. He picked the tailor, the fabric, and the style and even changed his demeanor when he wore the coat. Even though the St. Petersburg winters forced him to buy a new coat, he controlled the details. It was his biggest achievement in a life that was "littered" with obstacles and adversities. When his coat was taken from him, he was devastated, much like the lover who must endure unrequited love. Bartleby died because he, too, was deprived of his only avenue of control. "I prefer not to" was a regular response to a boss who symbolizes the tyranny and exploitive behavior of the upper class proletariat of Melville and Gogol's time. From a Marxist's point of view, Bartleby's defiance can be interpreted as a resistance against capitalist oppression. Melville was a strong advocate of social justices and economic reform, a subject directly related to the social problems arising from industrialization in 19th century America. Although Gogol was a Russian, he too was a strong advocate for social justice. He wrote, however, under political censorship and that could explain why he needed to end his story with the fantastical element of a ghost. It would turn a rather didactic political statement into an Aesop's fable. The Americans had no such censorship. 3 Bartleby and Akakievitch both suffered from malnutrition, a significant factor in their deaths, since neither ate properly. Their reasons for such extreme actions were, however, quite different. Akakievitch sacrificed his evening meal for his new coat. "He even got used to being hungry in the evening, but he made up for it by treating himself, so to say, in spirit, by bearing ever in mind the idea of his future cloak" (Gogol 7). It was his decision to make. "He became more lively, and even his character grew firmer, like that of a man who has made up his mind, and set himself a goal" (Gogol 7). It's no wonder the loss of his coat devastated him to the point of death. Bartleby's decision to eat very little was a habit he had acquired long before we meet him. It seems to be part of his nature and, because the narrator could care less about who the man was, we never find out why Bartleby chooses not to eat. We're not even sure that the narrator is reliable with this information. "He lives, then on ginger-nuts, thought I; never eats a dinner, properly speaking; he must be a vegetarian then but no; he never eats even vegetables, he eats nothing but ginger-nuts"(Melville 9). As readers, we're encouraged that the narrator might be concerned about this tendency towards malnutrition for he says: "My mind then ran on in reveries concerning the probable effects upon the human constitution of living entirely on gingernuts" (Melville 9). But just as quickly as we sympathize with the narrator's concerns we find out that he's just interested in how ginger-flavoring, "a hot and spicy thing" (Melville 9) affects Bartleby's temperament, a problem he's had with other employees. It is clear, however, that Bartleby's decision to not eat leads to his death. There is strong evidence that it is a deliberate action, one, which, in the end, is the only one, he still can control. The grub- 4 man asks the important question "His dinner is ready. Won't he dine to-day, either Or does he live without dining" (Melville 31). The narrator answers metaphorically, "Lives without dining," said I, and closed the eyes. "Eh! - he's asleep, ain't he" " With kings and counselors", (Melville 31), referring to Job's suffering in the bible. This short conversation, coupled with the narrator's last words, "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!" represents the most profound difference between Bartleby's death and that of Akakievitch. If we are to believe the narrators, then Bartleby seems to have evoked a change in the narrators' perception of people and life itself. Let's explore the narrators' role in our response to the protagonists' death. The Overcoat is narrated by a third person narrator who, although he inserts opinions here and there, tells the story with objectivity in mind. It isn't entirely successful (no narrative can be) since we, as readers, tend to view Akakievitch as excessive and obsessive to the point of hilarity, a prevalent mood of the piece induced by the narrator. We are, at times horrified and sympathetic only to find ourselves smiling at the absurdity of our Russian's actions. We don't at any time connect Akakievitch and his actions with the narrator. His fight is with a system that isn't identified through named people. The narrator begins by telling us "It is better not to mention the department" (Gogol 1) His colleagues and oppressors are not mentioned by name. The enemy is faceless. The director, sub-chief, and working colleagues are not named. A faceless enemy will evoke pity and understanding from a reader but we can invest so much more emotion into someone we know. And our narrator in Bartleby is someone we get to know intimately. Bartleby the Scrivener is a story, almost biographical in turn. Ironically, it is not Bartleby 5 of whom we learn the most. The narrator's character is far more revealing and lends the story an autobiographical flavor. We learn very quickly that the narrator is a self-absorbed, lazy, uncommitted human being. "I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best.I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause;" (Melville 1). Ironically, it is his very sublime telling of the story in which he unconsciously reveals his nature that will never "draw down public applause." He describes his employees in terms of productiveness and admits that "while of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist fro a full and satisfactory biography of this man." ( Melville 1). As a biographer, the narrator has an obligation to give us an insight into Bartleby's life. This narrator cannot do that because he has no interest in people unless they are productive as laborers. It would take too much effort for our narrator to connect with Bartleby. He's becomes the greatest annoyance when it seems he is influencing the minds and work habits of the other employees. The other workers start using the word "prefer". Bartleby's death seems self-inflicted as compared to Akakievitch 's death, which is caused by external factors. But at closer inspection, we see that it is the narrator's reactions to Bartleby's decisions that cause his death. The narrator's inability to connect with Bartleby on a human level is symbolic of all human cruelty and exploitation. It is humans who do the most damage to humans. Yes, Akakievitch's coat was stolen and the 6 cold weather caused him a deathly cold, but it is the faceless legal system that failed him. No one stepped forward to help. Just as Bartleby's narrator refused to get involved. In both stories there is abundant imagery of a cold, uncaring external world. This is a reflection of the state of humanity. In The Overcoat, our protagonist is often pelted with garbage falling from apartment windows and the tailor's staircase "was all soaked with dish-water, and reeked with the smell of spirits which affects the eyes, and is an inevitable adjunct to all dark stairways in St.Peterburg houses - " ( Gogol 4). In Bartleby the Scrivener, the narrator, with no twinge of conscience, gives a full description of Bartleby's working area. "I placed his desk close up to a small side-window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy back-yards and bricks, but which, owing to subsequent reactions, commanded at present no view at all, though it gave some light. I procured a high green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though not remove him from my voice. And, thus, in a manner, privacy and society were conjoined." (Melville 5). This description sets the rhythm of the entire story. The narrator sets up the tension between an exploitive boss who controls, not only the laborers working space, but also his social space and mind-set. Bartleby is in constant, polite revolt against this tyranny. It is this tension that makes Bartleby's death so poignant. We are horrified that our narrator, the catalyst for Bartleby's death, tells the story as an oblivious bystander. Not only does the narrator wrong Bartleby by his actions, but also he adds insult to injury by telling the 7 story as an unchanged, uninvolved bystander. The narrator's final lines may allude to some enlightenment, as mentioned previously. If that were true, would the narrator's obsessive need for self-adoration have been minimized in the present narrative If indeed, the narrator has felt a small connection to his and Bartleby's human condition, then we can say Bartleby's death is not in vain. We are angry with the narrator because, as a representative of the law, he surely, of all people, could have saved Bartleby from death. His character could not rise above its inferior self, yet in the end, his statements show that he may understand this weakness in himself and in the human condition as a whole. In contrast, Akakievitch's death goes unnoticed until he is missed at work. It is only his production as a laborer that identified him as a human. Even as a ghost, he makes no understandable statement, since he takes coats from people randomly, regardless of class or stature. Both stories raise the question of humanness in a production-driven society and how in its extreme, isolation can lead to death. It is the narrator in Bartleby the Scrivener, who evokes the most emotion in the reader, through his inability to see past his own interests, even in his role as a narrator. Works Cited Gogol, Nikolai. The Overcoat. March 21, 2006 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/7207/overcoat.html Melville, Herman. Bartleby The Scrivener. Short Stories. March 20, 2006 http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/BarScr.shtml Read More