Bartleby the Scrivener
Bartleby the Scrivener
by Herman Melville

Bartleby the Scrivener Themes

Little Words, Big Ideas

Choices

One of the things that make us human is our ability to make complex choices, even about the simplest of things. We don't always just do what we "should" do, and sometimes our most unconventional de...

Rules and Order

Whether or not we realize it, our everyday lives are dictated by a complex network of rules and regulations. For the most part, even the extremely independent-minded among us still do the things we...

Language and Communication

Slogans are everywhere. They jump out at us from commercials, from billboards, from t-shirts – really, they're all over the place. And why are they effective? Well, simply because the more yo...

Isolation

We'll just put this out there: Bartleby is a guy that lives alone in his workplace. He sleeps, eats, shaves, and hangs out in his cubicle. He has no friends. He has no family. He doesn't even have...

Morality and Ethics

Once you read "Bartleby the Scrivener," you'll never really shake it off – trust us on this one. We here at Shmoop first read it back in high school, and it's still lingering uncomfortably in...