Bartlby the Weapons Supplier and Strategist

“Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville is an interesting story that draws the reader to the character of Bartleby. The reader knows that he exists but does not have any background information as to where he came from, who he is, and why is he here. Throughout the story Bartleby is depicted as a quiet, willful character, which is most evident through his actions. As an example, he never says “yes” to any task that the lawyer asks him to do, but when asked, he does it in a polite fashion without any true hostile attitude. As readers, we are at the edge of our seat wondering if any of these requested tasks will ever break the fellow, hooking us and drawing us more to this interesting character.

Melville simply introduces Bartleby as the character who works in this job with the lawyer. We know nothing of Bartleby’s existence prior to that point. His demeanor and actions, however, provide the reader with some insight and much imagination as to who Bartleby is, how he looks, and the story behind this person. This brings us to his probable “Facebook” description.

If Bartleby had his picture in “Facebook”, it would probably be something unexpected. The picture of his profile would be of him with a ginger-nut in place of a cigar and he would be with Osama Bin Ladin and his terrorist regime. During his day job he is known as a scrivener, but Bartleby would describe himself as the man to know for the latest weapons and strategies for taking over the world. Weaponry and military strategy development would be described as his true passions and purpose in life, which is ignited further with the underworld clientele that he meets and serves. Because of this, most of his business transactions occur online. He demands payment in ginger-nuts and in incredible amounts of money (Only American Dollars and Euro’s).

Only a handful of people, who live by night and in the underworld, know of Bartleby’s weapons and strategies. This handful is enough to fund his covert and extravagant lifestyle, living in the fast lane to nowhere with everyone he encounters--outside of his day job. He attends the biggest parties with A-list celebrities, showing off his exotic vehicles with diamond studded rims. He plans parties online and has conversations with people whom he would never speak with during the day. Sometimes he forgets himself and miraculously, maybe robotically, brings himself back to the office and the lawyer.

That is why one day the lawyer found Bartleby sleeping in the office. Bartleby couldn’t remember where he lived so he crashed at the office. One can only imagine the horridness of the strategies that he plots with his friends. So horrid, that he forgets himself. No surprise, as his friends are Al Pacino whom he appreciates as Scarface. That persona taught him how to play hard ball with the big boys. Among the list of friends would be George Bush, whom he plays golf with on a regular basis, and whom he credits as the mentor who taught him how to deal with his inner fears of failure. Dr. Phil would also be on his friends list because before Bartleby took the scrivener position he was involved in supplying weapons and strategic plans to somebody who almost blew up the world; that person’s name was Donald Trump.

He feels extremely disappointed with his “other” life so he seeks and needs direction. It was Dr. Phil who told him to just start simple and to not forget his strength. So Bartleby took the job so he could just be simple during the day and not worry about his real job. He decided to just do what he wanted to do, and he would go politely about it because Al Pacino taught him that. Online, however, Bartleby is a force to be reckoned with--never giving in to a person’s wishes, only his. He vows to conceal his true identity by being as quiet and mysterious as possible during the day.

Bartleby’s backlist of his statuses of this week would be: Monday- Bartleby is in need of daily direction with life. Tuesday- Bartleby prefers not to do anything at this moment. Wednesday- Bartleby is thinking if you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Thursday- Bartleby is blah. Friday- Bartleby is meeting some clients at the jail house, and then going to eat some food.

This is why Bartleby-by-day is so intriguing. We can imagine that his true persona is very different from what is described at the office. We get a sense that he uses his day life to give him some cover as juxtaposition to his real job at night online. It is a cover-up for him in case people become suspicious of his quiet persona. They will never figure out his true identity—unless they looked him up on “Facebook”.