Although not an entirely novel concept (Melville’s masterpiece Moby-Dick also can be interpreted using the concept), this theory of universal noun application enables Melville to play not only with language, but also with the concept of what is original, what is a forgery and why those two are so difficult to reconcile when it comes to interpretation. Perhaps, in this way, the character Bartleby and the short story “Bartleby the Scrivener” directly parallel one another. In fact, the character of Bartleby, like the short story that shares his name, also appears murky (through the forged lens of a desperate narrator) and ignites discussion among his surrounding characters. However, within the minimal can be found hints at the underlying con Melville pulls. This idea of minimal explanation leading to greater interest and active reader participation predates Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory” by many years. Melville’s “Bartleby” simultaneously ignites discussion and exists as something impossible to see clearly under the simulacra. Through his cleverly constructed short story, Melville assured his own literary immortality and revealed the black hole that arises from the continued application of something as subjective as language.

Any further attempt to form a critical opinion on this muddled mess of forgery simply enters into the deep abyss Melville created. Revealed is a tale forged by a man (Melville), about a gentleman forger (Bartleby), and seen through the eyes of a man (the narrator) vainly attempting to forge an opinion on that gentleman forger. Such interpretation of the work has not only drowned the tale in a sea of critical thought it has also pulled back the veil in which Melville shrouded it.

The nature of the medium by which this man is presented is inherently subjective and made even less “original” every time an interpretation of the account of Bartleby is created. Because the short story itself is - in actuality - an account of Bartleby’s life copied down by an unreliable narrator, what we learn as readers about this man may be from something entirely false, i.e., something forged. By creating this abundantly rich yet frustratingly ambiguous work, Melville achieved several notable things: he kept his name in the canon of literary prominence he conned his publishers and readers he initiated a practice of literary meta-interpretation. Herman Melville’s short story, “Bartleby the Scrivener” is the one of the greatest practical jokes ever pulled by a major American author.

Bartleby the scrivener theme