Marxist Criticism In Bartleby The Scrivener

Reverend Herman Melville, known for being one of America’s greatest writers through his masterpiece Moby-Dick, has written several other pieces as well, which are not recognized, but set a significant image of how the world is portrayed. An example of a piece of Melville’s work which has a powerful image is Bartleby the Scrivener. The story is about a scrivener known as Bartleby, who works in a law office and refuses to take upon tasks. He continuously refuses which eventually drives the lawyer and the rest of his employees to move locations and leave Bartleby. Towards the end of the novel, Bartleby is thrown in jail and continues to refuse everything, which leads to his death. When reading the story, the reader must dig deeper in order to understand what is beneath the surface. Melville not only puts himself in this piece, but also demonstrates society in America. Authors write as a way to express how they think and eventually are able to publish it for people to read and maybe relate. Social class is a significant subject and how people treat each other depending on class. Melville’s depiction can best be understood through a Marxist point of view. This essay will critically analyze what Melville is set out to achieve through this piece and what could be achieved through his message. …show more content…
During this time Melville had many struggles as a writer and was criticized for his style of writing, but these criticisms might have served as an inspiration. He wrote Bartleby the Scrivener while he was overcoming financial disaster as a reflection of “an increasing despair and contempt for human hypocrisy and materialism.” Today, Melville has inspired many other types of work because of his style. He arose philosophical questions and his writing had a lot of relations to