Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity!

The first thing to take note about "Bartleby, the Scrivener" is the subtitle--a Tale of Wall Street.  The power of this story--and indeed, this is one of the great short stories in American literature, and in literature period--derives not only from the complex interactions between Bartleby and the narrator, but also that they occur smack in the center of venality, where human worth is measured in terms of commerce.  Melville's choice of settings is purposeful, because for many in the mid-19th century (when this story was written and set) few places in America symbolized the degradation of American character more than Wall Street.

Much as now, Wall Street was the financial center of New York City, though not quite yet the financial center of America and the rest of the world.  However, while we have been so long immersed in the capers of Wall Street that we barely give them a thought, when Melville was writing Wall Street was still a relatively new concept--and for many a deeply troubling one.

Wall Street, 1850

You see, then as now one made money on Wall Street through speculation; that is, one fundamentally "guessed" at the potential profitability of a company, and if one guessed right, one could soon be living large.  For us this isn't a problem, and to a degree we can even be in awe of this ability.

But for Melville and others, this was a troubling turn in American character.  Remember our friends, the Puritans?  Well, among their many cherished values was a work ethic, one in which work actually produced something tangible, and produced something that would also benefit the community.  Work for the Puritans had moral value, and one's work (or lack of it) reflected one's character.  While the Puritans as a clearly identifiable group had disappeared by the mid-19th century, their values (as I have emphasized multiple times) persisted and have always been at the core of American character.  Consequently, the "work" of Wall Street stood against everything many Americans--particularly those of a religious bent--valued about work.

First, one did not produce anything that benefited the needs of the community; in fact, one did not actually produce anything at all on Wall Street.  One made money through speculation, not labor.  (The Puritans had no problem with people making money, but they could have problems with how.)  Second, one profited through speculation, which was simply another term for gambling.  To use a more current reference point, those who looked dimly at Wall Street would have had the same misgivings about playing the lottery.  Speculation meant trusting to luck rather than God.  Finally, someone who profited on Wall Street profited by someone else's work.  In short, a Wall Street speculator was little more than a cultural parasite.

Herman Melville

Now, Melville himself was anything but a Puritan.  In fact, Melville bristled at just about anything that smacked of religion, or at least organized religion.  Years of church leaders condemning Melville's work as immoral had deeply embittered him towards religion.  It also didn't help that Melville may have been bi-sexual or homosexual (there are some indications in Hawthorne's personal writings, for example, that Melville may have had romantic interest in Hawthorne); while that's not absolutely certain, since the private Melville is very elusive, if he were that would further exacerbate his relationship with formal religions, which would be quite intolerant of this.  (The one exception may have been Unitarianism, which tended to have a live-and-let-live philosophy.)  But in spite of his animosity towards religion and dogma associated with religions, he was nevertheless one of our most moral writers, at least in terms of his social consciousness.  Unlike many of his Romanticist contemporaries, Melville was deeply attuned to social injustice and cultural oppression.  So while he may have been metaphorically bedding down with assorted religious leaders in his disdain for Wall Street, Melville's concern wasn't particularly religious.  He did see Wall Street as a potent force in the destruction of human character.