Bartleby the Scrivener

March 13, 2026 · 1h 31m

About this episode

This episode explores Herman Melville's 'Bartleby the Scrivener' and its themes of apathy and societal expectations.

“I would prefer not to.” Today, Moby-Dick is regarded as one of the greatest novels in American history and a towering achievement for its author, Herman Melville. Not so when it was first published: Sales were poor, and those who read it mostly had no idea what to do with it. His subsequent novel, Pierre , fared no better. “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street” was an attempt to turn the tide on a disappointing run. Seeking commercial justification for his writing and needing to claw himself out of debt to his publishers, Melville geared the tale for magazine publication in two parts. Perhaps contrary to purpose, Melville’s perspective on Wall Street was hardly full of the type of speculative intrigue that might entice the attention—and dollars—of fly-by-night audiences. Only much later did the work emerge as a masterpiece, appreciated for its allegorical subtlety, its engaging absurdity, and that oh-so-confounding five-word phrase that one never forgets. [Insert Not to be Reproduced | René Magritte, 1937] Amid the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, the titular character stands out for his apparent apathy—he is the antithesis of ambition and industry, “one of those…

People in this episode

Host: Ruby Love

Topics covered

American literature
Wall Street
apathy
absurdity
allegory

Keywords

Herman Melville
Bartleby
Wall Street
literature
apathy
absurdity
allegory

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Moby-Dick, Pierre, Bartleby the Scrivener