The occurrences individuals face in their life, regardless of how severe, can impact their lives in a manner that heeds either positive or negative outcomes. The characters Bartleby and Young Goodman Brown, of two differing texts, both experience incidents in their lifetime that result in depression and rejection towards life. In the texts Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both protagonists are influenced by the harrowing experiences they face to the point where they become unable to adapt to change, isolate themselves from those around them, and show signs of insanity, eventually leading to their demise. 

The experiences both protagonists overtake in the past continue to haunt them in the present, causing them to struggle to adapt to the changes they encounter. This is evident in the life of Bartleby as he enters his new occupation being a scrivener as a dutiful worker, yet his passive demeanor instantaneously catches the attention of the Lawyer and his co-workers; “I should have been delighted with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically” (Melville, 480). It is not until Bartleby’s death that the Lawyer is able to finally reach an explanation behind his behavior. It is revealed to him that before becoming a scrivener, Bartleby had worked at the Dead Letter Office in Washington; meaning he spent his time burning letters that never reached their recipients. The Lawyer is baffled that Bartleby could maintain a positive outlook on life after working at a job that solely involved the haunting subject of death; “‘dead letters! Does it not sound like dead men?’” (Melville, 502). Transitioning from a job where he was surrounded by death on a daily basis, to the job of a scrivener where the work is mind-numbingly simple, causes a change that Bartleby is not accustomed to. Bartleby is still haunted by this past occupation, shown by the behaviors he displays, which evokes sympathy from the Lawyer. Similar to Bartleby, the experiences Young Goodman Brown encounters in his past causes him to struggle to adapt to changes in his present life. After meeting with the Devil in the forest, he is convinced that those he previously perceived to be good Christians, such as his wife Faith and Deacon Gookin, have actually been followers of the Devil all along. This causes him to loose faith in the religion he has been piously following. Before venturing to discreetly meet with the Devil, Young Goodman Brown is seen as being desperately in love with his wife Faith, who he views as “a blessed angel on earth” (Hawthorne, 1). After discovering that Faith is a follower of the devil, he begins to question his morals and beliefs, and cannot acclimate to this revelation, resulting in depression. Despite how much he had previously loved and trusted in his wife faith, the memories he attained from the forest one evening altered his overall perspective on faith, due to the fact that “the decisions we make are based on our memories, not our experiences” (Murray). The Cognitive Neuroscience Society article “Linking the Past to the Future Through Memory” by Lisa P. Munoz can also provide an explanation for this: “Memory is not just for remembering. It is becoming increasingly apparent that memory has an important role to play in other functions that directly impact our psychological well-being” (Lmunoz). The constant recollection of previous memories impacts the overall mental well being of both Bartleby and Young Goodman Brown, causing them to reject life and everyone around them.

As a result of negative experiences admitted in the past continuingly haunting them, the protagonists of both texts become detached from society. Bartleby isolates himself from those around him, especially the Lawyer and his co-workers. When rejecting to complete the amount of work that is sufficient for the Lawyer, Bartleby spends his time blankly staring at the wall in front of him. He does not appear to have any sign of a social life outside of working as a scrivener, as he does appear to work even after the office has closed: “the utterly unsurmised appearance of Bartleby, tenanting my law-chambers of a Sunday morning […] had such a strange effect upon me” (Melville, 486). Due to the effects his past occupation imprinted on him, Bartleby settles into a life of isolation, not able to engage in the world around him. Similarly, as a result from the devilish happenings he experienced in the forest, Young Goodman Brown looses trust in everyone he previously believed was good. By doing so, he isolates himself from those around him in the village of Salem, and everything he was once accustomed: “when the congregation were singing a holy psalm, he could not listen because an anthem of sin rushed loudly upon his ear and drowned all the blessed strain” (Hawthorne, 8). By rejecting life and isolating themselves from society, Bartleby and Young Goodman Brown are refusing to move on from their past memories, influencing their health mentally.  

Bartleby and Young Goodman Brown begin to show signs of insanity as a result of not letting go of the experiences they endured in their past. Although he is a conscientious employee, the Lawyer attempts on a myriad of occasions to fire Bartleby, due to his attitude and behaviors causing the Lawyer and his co-workers to worry. Even after Bartleby has been fired and the Lawyer has moved his practice to a new office, Bartleby still remains in the office, arousing public curiosity. When he is sent to jail, he does not resist; “as I afterwards learned, the poor scrivener, when told that he must be conducted to the Tombs, offered not the slightest obstacle, but in his pale unmoving way, silently acquiesced” (Melville, 498). Due to his previous occupation, Bartleby mentally blocks himself from those around him, causing him to take upon a passive demeanor and have a pessimistic view on the world around him. Likewise, after he realizes that the individuals he once viewed as being devout followers of his religion are actually followers of the Devil, Young Goodman Brown is filled with distrust and longs for the life he once felt comfort in. This leads to him convincing himself that no one around him is trustworthy, and as a result “his dying hour was gloom” (Hawthorne, 8). Although the reasons for becoming mentally ill differ amongst the protagonist, the resulting effects make the characters seem as if they have similar mindsets.   

It can be deduced that Bartleby and Young Goodman Brown share similar traits in the sense that they both experience troubling situations in the past that lead them to reject life and have an overall pessimistic attitude. Bartleby adopts an unenthusiastic outlook on life as a result of his previous occupation, which effects his transition to the job of a scrivener in a way that causes him to act in a dead-like manner. In the case of Young Goodman Brown, his realization that the individuals he once believed were as faithful and good as himself had actually become converted by the evil temptations of the Devil without his knowledge, leading him to loose faith in everything he was once devoted to for the remainder of his life. These experiences also lead both protagonists to isolate themselves from those around them, as Bartleby chooses to not form any kind of relations with the Lawyer or his co-workers, and Young Goodman Brown detaches himself from his community in Salem, even his once beloved wife Faith. Ultimately, Bartleby and Young Goodman Brown both spiral into insanity; Bartleby dying in the jail he willingly allows himself to be put into, and Young Goodman Brown dying overcome with feelings of depression and fear of trust.
