If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”

"Bartleby, the Scrivener" is one of the most haunting tales of the nineteenth century. Criticism has centered on analysis of both the narrator and Bartleby himself, taking up the question of whether or not the narrator ultimately fulfills his moral obligations to Bartleby. I believe an app...

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Main Author:	Kari Nixon
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	The Ohio State University Libraries 2014-12-01
Series:	Disability Studies Quarterly
Subjects:	19th-century literature medical models Bartleby Melville diagnosis
Online Access:	http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3631

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spelling	doaj-ad3172753513470bb48da63a6741f9aa2020-11-24T23:04:32ZengThe Ohio State University LibrariesDisability Studies Quarterly1041-57182159-83712014-12-0134410.18061/dsq.v34i4.36313224If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”Kari Nixon0Southern Methodist University"Bartleby, the Scrivener" is one of the most haunting tales of the nineteenth century. Criticism has centered on analysis of both the narrator and Bartleby himself, taking up the question of whether or not the narrator ultimately fulfills his moral obligations to Bartleby. I believe an approach to the story, however, which takes as its starting point a critique of the medical model of disability helps elucidate this issue. This approach makes it clear that given his situation in a world which values a medically inspired model of understanding difference, the narrator, benevolent as he may be, can never do enough for Bartleby, because, given this situation, he can never ask the right questions of Bartleby or posit appropriate solutions for him. I conclude my argument with a consideration of critical complicity in this issue as critics attempt to classify Bartleby, thereby following in the narrator's misguided footsteps.http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/363119th-century literaturemedical modelsBartlebyMelvillediagnosis
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Kari Nixon
spellingShingle	Kari Nixon If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener” Disability Studies Quarterly 19th-century literature medical models Bartleby Melville diagnosis
author_facet	Kari Nixon
author_sort	Kari Nixon
title	If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”
title_short	If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”
title_full	If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”
title_fullStr	If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”
title_full_unstemmed	If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”
title_sort	if you don’t know me by now: the failure of care in “bartleby, the scrivener”
publisher	The Ohio State University Libraries
series	Disability Studies Quarterly
issn	1041-5718 2159-8371
publishDate	2014-12-01
description	"Bartleby, the Scrivener" is one of the most haunting tales of the nineteenth century. Criticism has centered on analysis of both the narrator and Bartleby himself, taking up the question of whether or not the narrator ultimately fulfills his moral obligations to Bartleby. I believe an approach to the story, however, which takes as its starting point a critique of the medical model of disability helps elucidate this issue. This approach makes it clear that given his situation in a world which values a medically inspired model of understanding difference, the narrator, benevolent as he may be, can never do enough for Bartleby, because, given this situation, he can never ask the right questions of Bartleby or posit appropriate solutions for him. I conclude my argument with a consideration of critical complicity in this issue as critics attempt to classify Bartleby, thereby following in the narrator's misguided footsteps.
topic	19th-century literature medical models Bartleby Melville diagnosis
url	http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3631
work_keys_str_mv	AT karinixon ifyoudontknowmebynowthefailureofcareinbartlebythescrivener
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If You Don’t Know Me by Now: The Failure of Care in “Bartleby, The Scrivener”

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