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Bartleby The Scrivener Thesis

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Herman Melville’s "Bartleby, the Scrivener" is a complex narrative that explores themes of isolation, free will, and humanity's intrinsic need for meaningful connections. While primarily viewed through the lens of literary criticism focusing on social and existential themes, the story does present elements that can be interpreted through a Christian framework, particularly in understanding the concepts of witness and salvation. This interpretative approach can position "Bartleby" as a tool for fulfilling the Great Commission, by which Christ ordered believers to spread the gospel, bearing witness to Christ. Thesis Statement: When it comes to interrupting Bartleby as a tool to leverage in pointing others to Christ, I must disclose I am influenced by Walter Anderson’s Analysis. Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" serves as a potent Christian witness by illustrating the profound impact of spiritual isolation (Anderson, 1981). Bartleby shows us that we are dead in our trespasses in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and we …show more content…

Yet the lawyer’s well-meaning gestures are continually not preferred, even as Bartleby’s condition, like sin, spirals downward until his eventual death. Christian, are we not the lawyer? We love humanly, we give, we share the gospel, and often in the name of Christian love we stop short of calling out sins accepted by society when whom we are speaking with prefers not to talk about that part of their life out of fear. Like the lawyer apologizing for his reactions, even though “he also knows he is not a villain” (Anderson). The lawyer, at his wits end, washes his hands clean of Bartleby “I now strove to be entirely care-free and quiescent; and my conscience justifies me in the attempt” (Melville, 1856,

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