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Examples Of Nonconformism In Bartleby The Scrivener

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“Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Emerson believed that once a man, one must be willing to go against the normalcy of nature and be their true selves regardless of what the world and people around them might think. All three characters, Bartleby, from Melville’s “Bartleby The Scrivener,” Reverend Mr. Hooper from Hawthorne’s “The Minister’s Black Veil,” and Aylmer, from Hawthorne’s “The Birth Mark” confirm Emerson’s belief that there is nothing more sacred than being true to one’s self and what he/she stands for, even if it is not what others consider right. Aylmer is a character in Hawthorne’s “The Birth Mark” that fulfills Emerson’s belief of going against what is expected of you, even if it may not be what others consider …show more content…

Day after day, Bartleby works significantly hard, “copying by sun-light and candle-light” (1070). At first, Bartleby nullifies Emerson’s views by going forth with what every person is expected to do, and becomes a zombie in the work life, living every day the same. There are many theories behind the mysterious change of events of Bartleby when one day he randomly stops abiding to the tasks given and asked of him, and begins to solely reply to everything with “I would prefer not to” (1071). Bartleby stops his work altogether, and becomes a zombie in another way. In many ways, Bartleby both nullifies and fulfills Emerson’s view because he stops engaging in what is expected of him, but it is not to better himself since he begins to “prefer” not to eat, which kills him in the

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