# 'Bartleby the Scrivener' - What symbolism? -or- Why I'm not an English professor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bartleby-the-scrivener-what-symbolism-or-why-im-not-an-english-professor/228534 "2004-02-10T23:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bartleby-the-scrivener-what-symbolism-or-why-im-not-an-english-professor/228534/21 "2004-02-12T08:12:45Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > John Astin, who was working towards his Lit Masters when he caught the acting bug, was flunked by his high school English teacher after he interpreted “Moby Dick” as an extended advertisement for the whaling industry. When he got to college he confessed that to a prof, who agreed with him. I actually thought Melville was out to excite his audience with graphic details of whale slaughter. It was all rather tedious. Advertisement for the whaling industry? Could this be the world’s first example of product placement? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bartleby-the-scrivener-what-symbolism-or-why-im-not-an-english-professor/228534/22 "2004-02-12T08:38:12Z")
[bartleby.com has “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street”](http://www.bartleby.com/129/) – Yay for Captain Obvious. Anyway, the story was published in 1853. Melville died in 1891. It’s long past copyright, mainly because Disney hasn’t made a profit from it yet. I liked “Bartleby the Scrivener” because I liked the story and I empathized with the title character. He just wanted to drop out and relax for a while, maybe getting some cookies thrown in for good measure. Who could blame him? Maybe he was an autistic. Maybe he was a manic-depressive, and he hit a really big depressive state. I like to think he was bored and just didn’t care anymore. I can read for symbolism. I enjoy it. But I didn’t read “Bartleby” for symbolism, and none presented. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bartleby-the-scrivener-what-symbolism-or-why-im-not-an-english-professor/228534/23 "2004-02-12T13:46:36Z")
May I suggest Peter Straub’s deliciously twisted take on “Bartleby the Scrivener,” his novelette “Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff” collected in his book “Magic Terror?” I’m not sure he expands upon any symbolism, but he does take the odd concept of the story to an extreme. [Here is an excerpt.](http://www.net-site.com/straub/clubb.htm) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bartleby-the-scrivener-what-symbolism-or-why-im-not-an-english-professor/228534/24 "2004-02-12T14:11:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Recall the other two employees: A would show up in the morning all grumpy, and B would show up cheerful. They’d go to lunch and come back a little wobbly, and now A would be happy and B would be taciturn. It’s clear to us that they’re drinking themselves silly at lunch, but the narrator (as I recall) doesn’t figure this out. I wasn’t quite sure he wasn’t dancing around the fact. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bartleby-the-scrivener-what-symbolism-or-why-im-not-an-english-professor/228534.md?page=1)