Analysis Of Bartleby The Scrivener By Ernest Hemingway

Comparing and Contrasting Mental Health in Short Stories
The magic of short stories lies in their ability to convey depth and evoke strong emotions with only a limited number of words, although the literary techniques used in short stories may vary greatly while conveying similar themes. The short stories Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville and Soldier’s Home by Ernest Hemingway confront the reality of mental illness and explore the topics of identity, isolation, and social influence. However, each story relies on a different narrative technique to reveal the central conflict and feature opposing writing styles that distinguish each story.
Most prominently, both Bartleby and Krebs suffer from impairing mental health issues. Bartleby

Hemingway narrates Soldier’s Home through a third person omniscient perspective, allowing an unbiased and reliable view of Krebs and the supporting characters to give the reader a fully developed and all-inclusive description of the situation. Hemingway’s signature brevity illustrates the dissociation Krebs experiences from the bustling energy of the normal world around him upon returning home from the war and the disconnect he feels from his society. This short manner of writing captures the lack of purpose and depth Krebs feels due to his inability to readjust to everyday life in a meaningful way. The reader experiences Krebs’ unfiltered consciousness, providing a more cognitive and psychological portrait of the main character and his struggle to find an identity outside of war. Additionally, Krebs’ relationships change radically, and his failure to relate to others illustrates the impact of social influence on mental health. Krebs can no longer function properly or purposefully in his life, and Hemingway’s strength in succinct writing highlights the break from normal continuity of life during a post-traumatic

Melville’s first-person narration through an unnamed narrator distances the reader from Bartleby’s direct thought process, leaving readers with only the interpretive recollection of a potentially biased figure. This perspective urges the reader to think critically about the true situation through context clues revealed throughout the story. Rather than directly explain the details of Bartleby’s depression, Melville pushes the reader to piece together the symptoms he scatters throughout the beginning of the story, ultimately building up to the undeniable disability that causes Bartleby’s demise. The pervasive theme of isolation grows stronger as the story moves along and Bartleby exhibits more strange and introverted behaviors, bridging the gap between the slightly odd Bartleby in the beginning and the severely dysfunctional Bartleby in the end. Likewise, Bartleby’s lack of identity and involvement in the workplace compared to the camaraderie of the other men exemplifies classic symptoms of major depression without directly stating Bartleby’s medical condition. Furthermore, the revelation at the end of the story about Bartleby’s past occupation at the dead letters office provides key backstory that the reader may factor into his or her understanding of Bartleby’s mental state and the impact of the job of his already