ROUND TABLE ‘with paradox. We assume that Violet and Peony are all sweecness and light until the snow birds come and won't have anything to do with them, although the birds claim fhe snowimage for an old acquaintance, Having appropriated a Wordsworthian themes Hawthorne could noe forget that Violet and Peony, being human, woald hhave to wait for the millenium to romp with a flock of snow birds Celestial birth and the visionary gleam of childhood are only one side of experience in the Mlvinatioe Oi: she oer sd the years that bring the philosophic mind, snd thir & the primary’ theme of "The Great, Stone Face.” Ernest, like Words- Worth's Michael, acquires the philosophic mind through a lifetime spent in rural Isbor and the contemplation of nature. ‘The dic- tion in reference to Emestis noless Words- ‘worthian than that which applies to the poet. Hawthorne's description of Exest as 2 boy “sunbrowned with labor in the fields, bur with more intelligence brightening his aspect than is seen in many lads who have beea taughe in famous schools” (Ill, 416) fs reminscent of ‘the preference Words- worth expressed for nature rather than books in “The Tables Tarned.” Later in Emos's life when his neighbors fail to understand his “idle habit” of going’ seragecand meditate poy he sc Sine Face” (in a manner parallel to Matthew's failure w understand William's dreaming his time away in “Expostulation and Re- ply") Hlawthome informs us, “They knew 365 not that thence would come a better wi {tom tha could be Tamed from bok, sad f fecer fie than coull be moulded she defeced example of other human ves" CU 421). And finally, in old age, Emest has the Same “compensiéon “WAER Wordoworeh fing nie Sinanson Ode the pl hie mind. “But notin van fad he Ese fst) grown old: more than the whe has tn AE head were the sage cheogs in Bs finds he wines ad ferrous were Serptions that ‘Time had raved, and SGREh' he fin ween legs of wont that had been tested by Ge tetor of fe™ Ul, 3, Eevee a leer apron of tie Wordsworthian idea (elbch Word Sront hina ntempted ce skenpli) than the pore becase Ermest has not eed fmong 16 "poor and mean ras” 436) oa city asthe poet has by his owe Ghote. The tor of his Me hes procured for Erna the advantage of divine Shops and fecngs whieh hes ableto mbes saa the sweet and lowly cama howell swords” (Ill, $34), but Ernest licks the po= thie faclty‘wth which he pore ha been endowed since birth, It would seem, chen, thar i ner ott Exact and che fost convey the Weordsworthan’ sonceps_ in STheGeen Stone bac!" The gueokcson of the poct supped enough of « Kindred spit i the sty co eocoflee Ernest for the grea soul that he was at che same time Kes pecenaty 10 say’ the poce with a town life sous aot to mtroloces Hal hero Intie lac quarter of the sory. MELVILLE’S BARTLEBY AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL DOUBLE. ‘Morvecar Marcus Mose interpreters of Melvill’s, aan ory tBartkby the Servenes” (1059) hhave seen i a 4 somewhat allegorical com- ment on Mivilles plight ss « writer afer the publication of Moby-Dick and Pierre "Richard Chase, Herman Moi, A Criiea! Sealy (9), pp te t88y Newson eying Herman “Mehl” (19%), pp. 32 Mare. "Milvite's Poratie’of the W suanee Review, LX (1053), 602-0 ‘Mordecai Marcus, assizant profesor of Eng lish at Purdue, bas published oricls on Stephen Grane, Hemiiaiay, Handy, F- G Tuckerman, the initiation tbeme, and otber subjects. ‘Others have suggested that the sory drama tizes the conflict beeween absolution and free will in its protagonist? that ie shows the desuuctire power of tratonaltyy OF that it criticizes the sterility and imperscn- ality of « business socieey.* The last of these FR AL Fogle, ‘Melville's Bardeby: Abio- luis, Predestination, and Free Will” Tulone Stuaies iv gli IV (1980), 125-155, ‘Charles G, Hofman, “The’ Shorter Fiction of Ferman Melville” South Atlantic Quarterly, LIL G95}, a20-421. “Ronald Mason, Tbe Spirit ebove the Dust (London, 1951), pp. 196-192.366 interpretations seems to_me the most sc- ccarate, and the ochers suffer either from an inability to adjuse the pars of the story t0 ‘Malvill’s experience (or that of any serious writer), oF #0 adjust the parts fo one an- other. Thelieve that the character of Bartleby is a prychological double for the story’s name Ie Inwycermarstoe, and dha the ston criticism of a sterile and impersonal societ tan best be clarified ty invexiguion of tie role, Melville's we of psychological doubles in Mardi, Moby-Dick, and Pierre has been widely and convincingly discussed Prob: ably “Melville's most’ effective double is ‘Ahab's shadowy, compulsive, and despairing counterpare. Barleby’s role and significance as a double remain less evident than Fedallah’s, for the lawver is less clearly vided person than is Ahab. and Barce~ by’s role 2s double involves a complex am- i fs to the lawyer chiefly to remind him of the inadequacies, the sterile routine, of his world Evidence that Bartleby is « prychological double for the lnwyer-narrator is diffused throughout the story, in details aboot Bart= Techy and in the lawyer's obsenive coneera with and for Bartleby. The fact that Bartie- by has no history, as we learn at the be- ginning of the story and in a later dialogue, st that he has emerged from the faw= yees mind. He never leaves the kwyer’s Dffices and he subsists on virtually nothing, ‘Aer he zfuss 10 work any longer, he be: comes « kind of parasite on the lawyer, but the exact nature of his dependence on the lawyer remains mysteriously vague. His periseent refusal to leave despite all induce ments and threats implies that he cannot leave, that it is his role in life not to leave the lawyer's establishment. Bareby’s com- Pusve way of life calm determination, and otherwise i le tenscity suguest that eis an embsddiment of the tind of pore verse determination we might expect to Hower in the rither gentle and homane lawyer should he give over to an unyicld- “See, for example, on Mardi, William Bras- well, Meluilles Religious Thought (143), pp. 87-93; on Moby-Dick, Luther S- Mansield ind Howard P. Vincent, eds. Moby Diek (19%2), Esplanzory Nown pp. 729-734, on Fieve ‘A. Marray, Introduction, Pierre (1999), COLLEGE ENGLISH ine passivity os a proto against his way of “The behavior of the lawyer gives stronger evidence that Bartieby is his psychological double. The screen which the lasryer places around Bartieby’s desk to “isolate Bartleby from my sigh, though not remove him From my voice” sothat “privacy and society were conjoined” symbolizes the lawyers compartmentalization of the unconscious forces which Barleby’ represenes. Never: theles, Bartlcy’s power over the lawyer ickly grows as the story progresses, and it grows at least partially in proportion to Baleby’s inceasly infunating behav Towards the beginning of the story the lawyer feels vicuely that “all the justice and all the reason” may lie with Bartleby’s as- tonishing refwsal t check his, copy. Later the lawyer confesses to being “almost sorry for my brilliant succes” when he thinks he has sicceeded in evicting the now wholly passive Bartleby; and when he finds that he is mistaken, he admite thae Bartleby has a “wondrous ascendiney” over him. Grow- ing used to Bartleby’s amazing tenacity, he feels that Bartleby has been “billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all- ‘wise Providence,” and he mases about Bar- deby: “never feel so private as when T know you are here.” ‘The lawyer finally accepts Banteby's presence as a natural part of his world, and he admis that withoue outside interference their strange relationship might have con tinued indefinitely. Bue the crisis of the story arrives when his professional friends fe him for harboring Bartleby and thos lead him to his various struggles to be rid of him. The professional friends repre sent the rationality of the “normal” world, an external force which recalls the awyer from his tentative acceptance of the voice of apparent unreason represented by Bartleby. When he finally resorts to moving ‘out of his offces in order to leave Bartleby behind, he declares “Strange to say-T tore myself from him whom T had so longed t0 be rd of! “The lawyer's intermittent'y vindictive re- sponses to Bartleby's passivity, which are combined with acceptance of and submis- ‘Son to Bardeby, suggest an anger against @ force which has invaded himself. The las action ‘which suggests identification of theROUND TABLE ‘two occurs when in the prison yard Bartle- by behaves as if the lawyer 1s responsible for his imprisonment end perhaps for his Ihopeless human situation as well Rarechy’e role ar « psychological double is to criticize the. sterility, impersonality, and mechanical adjustments of the world ‘which the lawyer inhabits. The setting on ‘Wall Strect indicates thae the characters are in a kind of prson, walled off from the world. ‘The lwyer's position as Master of Chancery sugzests the endless routine of ours of equity and the difcaty of find ing equity in life. The lawyer's easygoing dezachiene-he cals hinself an "eminently safe man"—represents an attempt at a calm adjustment to the Wall Street world, an adjnstment which is threatened by Bart by's implicit, and also calm, criticism of its endless and gerile routine. Although the hhamaneness of the lawyer may weaken his symbolic role ot a man of Well Stree, i does make: him a person to whom the n- conscious insights ‘represented by Banlcby might arrive, and who wosld ympithize swith and aloost, in a Timited seman, yield co Barveby. The frustrating sterility and monotony of the world which Bareleby enters is fur- ther shown in the portraits of the lawyer’ ‘two eccentric seriveners, Turkey and pers, These men display groresque adjust ments to and comically eccentric protert gaint the Wall Steet world. Both of chem are frostreted by their existences, Turkey spends most of his money for liquors, im bibing heawily at lunchvinse, pressmatiy induce a false blaze of life which will help him to endure but which makes him useless for work during each afternoon. Nipper, ‘on the other hand, needs no artificial sammu- lant; he possesses a crude radiance of his ‘own, and in the mornings is “charged . with’ an ieritible brandy-like disposition,” but at this time of day i Nippers ean ger through ly with the aid of endless re-adjusements of his writing table; no_matter how he places it, he i still uncomfortable Beth of hese men are leset tervicesble when they ate, n'a sense, most alive, Turkey and Nip- pert combine “automaton ehaviory self hareosis, and awkward ettempes 0 preserve their individuality Entering this world of mildly smug self- 367 sufaction and mechanical behavion, Bac- teby Begins his work eagerly, “as if long. fumishing for something 0 copy.” This ac- tion probably represents both a hunger for life and a desperate attempt to deaden his seasbitis among such sere surround. ings. Very soon, however, Bartleby evinces the fire of hie many refisals: he wl noe help to verify bis copy arainst the original Apparently Bartleby is willing to act within ellawyers world Bue he fees all pert sonal contact because it is spurious. His re- fasal is paradoxical for "he rejects. the illosion of personality in an impersonal world by retresting to another kind of im- personality which alone makes chit world endurable, His insistence that he “prefers rot” to conform reflects both his gentleness and the profundity of hs rejection of im- personality masking itsel’ as personal con- tect. As such, it approprately represents a voice deep within the lawyer himeelf.a de- sire to give over his mote of life As the story progrestes, Barleby reject all activ tod fos: to eave; he fas dscoveced that impenonaliy’& not enough to help him endure this world. Bartkby clings to the lawyer because he represents a continuing protest within the lawyer's mind, whom he makes “stagger in his owa plainese faith’ As Bartlby’s passivity picks up momen- tum, he moves from the impersonality of copying to the impersonality. of contem= tating the dead, blind wall which fronts the window near his ded. This wall, and the prison walls “of amazing thickness” at the bare of which Bartleby finally les dead, parallel the images of the whale as “that ‘all shoved near to me” (Chapter 36) and of the whale’s head as a “dead, blind wall” (Chapters 16 and 128) in Moby-Dick. Not- ing this parallel, Leo Marx takes these im- ares to represen’ the wall of death (p. 621) Tbelieve, however, that in beth story and novel, they represent chiefly the terror and iplacability of existence, against which Ahab actively and Bartleby passively revole. Both men suggest that, in. Ahab’s words, “The dead blind wall’ butes all inquiring Inead at lat” (Chapter 125). Tho wall may abo symbolize those limitations which give every individual his personal identi Ahab’s unwillingness to accept his tions as a suffering man motivates dictive drive to pierce the wal.368 COLLEGE ‘The parallel between another image in “Bartleby” anda significant symbol. in Moby Dick adés wo the ikehond tar jartleby represents a force in the lawyer's unconscious mind:, Bartleby, “like the last column of some ruined temple... remained standing mute and solitary in, the middle of the otherwise deserted room.” This passage resembles a. series, of remarkable images which symbolize the unconscious part of Ahab: “those vase Roman halls of Thermes.” where man’s “avful essence sits... like a yas apelin om he ren oe the piled encablarae of ages” (Chapeer #1). nal in anlehe asselocs the Jmuman ‘condition in the society within ‘which Barty feels crapped, and by ex- tension the burden of his own identity with- in the limitations of such a socicry. The ind window (Bartleby’s is three feet from his), suggest his slighter awareness of his trapped human condition. When at the end Bartleby lies dead within che prion walls “of amazing thickness,” he has suecumbed to the imper= sonality of his society and to his inability to resist i actvel assaming the foetal sition in death, “his knees drawn up, and Fpingon ha side, his head touching te cold stones,” suggesting a passive retreat to the ‘womby sens the opposite of Ahab's desire to be & superman who will pierce the wall of limitations and identity. However, the symbol of the prison walls licated by the, appearance within them of a green turf and by the lawyer's ex glanation to Barley, within the prin, “There is the sky, and here i the “These Images of gras symbole the re tive posites of lie. Bireby's response to the lawyer’ declaration is, “know ‘where I am,” which is an accusation that the lawyer i responsible for Barleby’s incar- ceration in the prison of the world. The lawyer's sensitivity to both the validity of Bartleby’s general protest and to the crea~ tise possiblliies which ie neglects indicaes, T belle, that Burleby represents procest ‘within the lawyer which has at lease par- tially ken the form of a death drive. Parallel to this paradox is the fect that Baby's pote ao resembles the protess ‘of Turkey’ and Nippers, who combine self- ‘effacement, self-assertion, and self-narcess, ENGLISH “The concluding section of the story in yc net Ses Fr a anation of Barteby’s actions by reporting MMfumor tint he had worked deed fever fice ia Washington and so had be- come obeesed with homman loneliness seems tome a aril concn eked on cherie final estement that Barley His SSleep “with Kings and coosslon” i prob- spe ogee ncn for ite the hopelesness of Bart Gone areibtes prota and dig £0 arelcby’s proce against the steiity of 2 ape sory civil, however, appears to_ intend farher metiphyeial spethlacion. "The er bodiment of a protest against sterility and impersonality in the passive and Finally death-seeking Bartleby may st that man is hopelessly trapped by the human condition ian aoqusiere sclety ‘Thus te inwyer may feel dor in Bardchy® nd resignation os well as in his prot, The Sutton, however, complied ty the thot the Barly appears rosa within the eyes lab agelet KO wy OF if, batts procs leads to death, ard only the uwyer perctes the create Sis thot Bart cere oe pe I do not believe, "however, that Melville was suggesting thatthe lawyer's way of He entail promis of reat wi Ba tlebycoald not se. Rather he was sugges ing’ che noqtive ‘cours which ampli, represnced by Barcleby- might tke" par Sidy hed ey chenpe ine rae thoroughly sterile environment. Thus the ory Ines a theme olson ls cones dion crete po 9 mocha counter-cepicion ‘Of Bartieby’s passivity as. an expression of gqiet despair door furan predicament Foe lnwver & oot Vably changed ater & erage with his doable, sare Dowoyers Hye Retolntov or Conna’s young. sea Saptit in "The Secret Sher Neder dow he scour toon intese and destruc the depute though Barelcby bas partly feprcsenced a subliminal death drive withn Ti Hloweves, the sundstl to which the lawyer's iighes have brought Rim. dos thow Melile’sinogiration moving in the Toweon of the Intercept found in fnoch cmsemponaty Wernae