Comparing Paul's Case And Bartleby The Scrivener

In both “Paul’s Case” and Bartleby, the Scrivener, although Paul and Bartleby are both presented as powerless people in their communities, they are also the people who resist the majority the hardest in order to remain true to themselves. Unfortunately, they both die at the end. While their resistance makes them the tragic characters in their stories, it also makes them heroic to the readers because their resistance is what we inwardly desire to attain in our reality. It is difficult for Paul and Bartleby to successfully resist their communities stance because they are both socially weak -- they are both insignificant people who have low status in the social structure and their desires to follow their instincts and resist are always being

Both Paul and Bartleby’s resoluteness to remain true to themselves is strong and without compromise -- they defend themselves by insisting to express their genuine thoughts and do what they want despite all the social query and attacks for their nonconformity. Since the beginning of “Paul’s Case”, the readers know that Paul’s behavior in school has already caused great distress among his teachers and Paul is at risk from being expelled if he continues to behave the same way. Even in this situation, when the head of school asks him what he thinks about his behavior, he says: ”I don’t know, I didn’t mean to be polite, or impolite, either. I guess it’s a sort of way I have of saying things, regardless” (Paul’s Case). From this answer, full of defiance, the readers can see that Paul has no will to surrender to the school and the teacher’s expectations. Instead, the answer conveys Paul’s strong desire to stick to his current behavior rather than to conform to anything that is promised to improve his current life. Furthermore, the most conclusive thing Paul steals money from his father, which is obviously illegal and a great risk, to help him run away from his dull life to New York. Yet, what stands out from his characteristic is that Paul never regrets any of the past deeds that he has done, after experiencing the life he so long yearned for. Even after he knows that his father is looking for him and that he will soon be caught, Paul feels relieved rather than