Man of Mystery (Part II)

I found Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" rather perplexing. I understood the plot of the tale, and I understood Bartleby's character. I was amused by Melville's dry humor by way of Turkey and Nippers, and I felt sympathy toward Bartleby throughout, especially in his death. Yet I am not sure I understand Bartleby's motivation. It is clear that something is off psychologically within Bartleby, yet I am never able to fully ascertain a cause. The only clue which the reader is given is when Melville reveals that "Bartleby had been a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letter Office at Washington" and reflects upon this occupation of "Dead letters! does it not sound like dead men?"

In researching the Dead Letter Office (and by "research," I of course mean "Wikipedia"), I discovered that the office concerns letters which cannot be delivered because the address is either illegible, insufficient, or nonexistent. If all other methods of discovering the proper address are exhausted, the letter is then shredded--or, in Melville's time, burned. Melville indicates that he considers working in this office would likely be a hopelessly depressing job as one would constantly be destroying heartfelt pieces of correspondence. Yet I still do not believe that that alone could justify Bartleby's queer personality. I honestly cannot give a definitive answer myself concerning Bartleby's disposition; perhaps it simply cannot be surmised correctly. Perhaps Bartleby is intended to remain an enigma.

The Reason behind It All (Motivation)

“‘Ashley, chap she got the title from, was a sailor, you know. Ninth baronet. When he came home he wouldn’t sleep in a bed. Always made Brett sleep on the floor. Finally, when he got really bad, he used to tell her he’d kill her. Always slept with a loaded service revolver. Brett used to take the shells out when he’d gone to sleep. She hasn’t had an absolutely happy life, Brett. Damned shame, too. She enjoys things so.’”

-The Sun Also Rises, p 207

In this passage, we finally learn Brett’s motivation. Before this paragraph, we had to just assume that Brett’s flirting and romantic escapades were simply a result of her flapper personality. Without a background story, we had to guess that Brett acted the way she did because of a 1920s culture that included new freedom for women. Upon reading this passage, though, we can see that this is not the case. Before her engagement to Mike, Brett was involved in an abusive marriage. Perhaps the abuse was not physical, but being told by one’s spouse that he is going to kill you definitely constitutes as abuse. I think Brett’s previous marriage has caused her to become emotionally and romantically unstable. Similarly to Cohn, she falls in love with any man who treats her with respect because she was not given any respect in her previous marriage.

Hemingway finally includes this explanation of Brett’s motivation not only as a commentary on abusive relationships, but also as a twist in our perception of Brett and—because we can now better see the similarity between her and Cohn—of Robert Cohn as well.