Bartleby, the Epitome of Passitivity: an Elegy for Humankind

Authors : Esra ÖZİLHAN

Pages : 333-339

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Publication Date : 2012-04-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In The Writing of the Disaster, Maurice Blanchot discusses the concepts of disaster, the Other, passivity, and responsibility. His aphorisms can help us to analyse the relationship between Bartleby and the narrator-attorney in Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street”. This story presents significant insights into the relationship with the Other, and how the Other is a burden that each person involuntarily experiences. In this paper, I will discuss the reasons for, and the effects of, passive resistance, in addition to the inextricable feeling of responsibility that is experienced in the face of the Other.
Keywords : Bartleby, Epitome, Passitivity