Unconventionality in Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville, "The Death of Ivan Illych" by Leo Tolstoy, and the "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka are three examples of great short stories, which, while appearing conventional, turn out to represent something wild or untamed. It looks at how the radical idea that these three stories illuminate is that emotional alienation leads to a life of anguish and how, in order to achieve true happiness, one must be able to withstand the pressure of giving in to some of society's corruptness and be true to oneself. It shows how the protagonist of each of these short stories fails to be able to do this and how, instead, they alienate themselves emotionally from their families by delving into their meaningless, tiresome professions.

From the Paper:

"Melville uses the quote, "Ah Bartleby, Ah Humanity", to display a wild or untamed idea about emotional connectedness, emotional alienation, societal expectations, and behaviors considered acceptable by the working world. Bartleby, a seemingly homeless man, is characterized as a "motionless" scrivener who eventually, gives up life. However, in so doing, Bartleby is attempting to exercise his freewill, as he would "prefer not to" work. As he attempts to exercise his freewill, he breaks away from the narrator's will and the normal expectations of working life. This attempt to execute his freewill, by saying he, "prefers not to" and break loose from the confines of conventional societal functioning, isolates Bartleby from the world, which in turn places him in a state of depression that eventually leads to death. "

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