Little does it matter that I should reveal the ending as well. By reporting the facts narrated by Melville I will reveal to you little compared to what emerges from reading the text itself. The logic of the spoiler does not apply to short stories. What has been said so far is a warning to myself, as I should not enclose anything, I should not encircle Bartleby, but rather find him somewhere along the line masterly drawn by Melville. I would like to first briefly tell the story of Bartleby the scrivener and then to highlight a point that struck me. What I have in mind is similar in spirit, but different in content. Recently, philosophers such as Giorgio Agamben and Gilles Deleuze dedicated an essay (Bartleby, la formula della creazione) to the philosophical content of the text. Some critics defined his short story as the first existential novel.
The same goes for another character, Bartleby the scrivener. The outcome is uncertain, even for those who have already read the book.
Readers aspiring to explore Ahab’s depths must join his damned crew, go in search of Moby Dick and fight him to the end. Not all the voices and callings are good, but the deep ones are all true and worthy of respect. Melville respected the character he had created, he listened to the very same voice luring Ahab (that was perhaps luring him too) without expressing moralistic judgments of sort. How many ex-post readings tried to assess Ahab and considered him as a Graceless man (in the Christian acceptation) or a madman lacking moral values? How many readers did interpret his death, result of the clash with the white whale, as the failure of a certain lifestyle? “Ahab beware of Ahab”, as Melville prophetically stated. Let’s consider Moby Dick and Captain Ahab.
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