The Similarities Between Bartleby And Bartlesby

Being the kind person that he is, the narrator was ready to offer Bartleby a place in his home but Bartleby simply replied that he “preferred not to”. Therefore, in order to protect his reputation, the narrator had to move offices and Bartleby was taken to the tombs. In order to protect Bartleby the narrator left him money as well ensured he would get food in prison. I sympathize with the narrator as he was ready to care for someone who needed his help and worked to understand Bartleby’s needs throughout the story. The narrator in the story seems to be a character of good moral and works hard to be a good boss. He appears to be someone who is benevolent and acts out of self-interest to treat his employees

In the narrator’s office, Bartleby is faced with being holed up by his employer. The narrator tells us “I resolved to assign Bartleby a corner by the folding-doors, but on my side of them… I placed his desk close up to a small side window in that part of the room, a window which originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy backyards and bricks, but which owing to subsequent erections, commanded no present view at all, though it gave some light… Still to further satisfactory arrangement, I procured a high green folding screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight…” (Melville, 301). He has essentially cut Bartleby off from any forms of communication by this set-up, alienating him from the other workers in the office and the narrator as well. We see Bartleby deteriorate through his time in the office, starting off as a hard worker, to denying to do certain parts of his job, and finally, to completely cutting himself off and not doing any work, much to the chagrin of the narrator and the others. The work itself could also be compared to that of what he did in the Dead Letter Office, copying dead letters day in and day out for the law. There is no real destination for what he does, the works he copies will end up gathering

This lack of information is amplified onto the reader and even before his death, Bartleby is already a haunting figure in the text. Interestingly, Bartleby is the complete opposite of the narrator, in that we know a great deal about the life of the narrator, but almost nothing about Bartleby. The narrator is also shown to be a man with purpose, though self-serving, whereas Bartleby exists as an aimless being. “He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light. I should have been quite delighted with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically” (Melville 6).

Paragraph 95 proceeds with the Lawyer contemplating on what to do with Bartleby. Here, readers gain insight on the Lawyer’s perspective concerning morality and moral responsibility. The Lawyer feels a sense of helplessness and is convinced that he can no longer be accountable for Bartleby. He realizes that he “could not reach” (137) Bartleby’s soul and Clark explains that he is unable to make that connection because “like the money in his

In "Bartleby the Scrivener," Melville chooses his order of character introduction in order to illustrate what kind of man the lawyer is. The entire story depends upon the lawyer's reactions and responses to Bartleby and upon the reader accepting the lawyer's reactions, responses, and actions as wholly sincere and in keeping with his character. The descriptions of these characters are also really part of the setting. The office is cramped and uninspiring, and those who work there could be considered misfits. Turkey and Nippers together make one effective worker, and Ginger Nuts is nothing but a glorified errand boy, though he's supposed to be an apprentice. Once we meet them, the tone of the office is set and helps prepare us for the inimitable Bartleby the scrivener who "would prefer not to."

Looking at the very first time Bartleby refuses to examine the copies, the reader might think that the narrator is going to dislike him very much, but this is not true at all. When the narrator first hears the refusal, he comes to anger very quickly. He is baffled at Bartleby’s response and proceeds to ask his other employees what their opinions might be. However, the passive nature of Bartleby turns the narrator’s anger into an appreciation for the character. The narrator even tells the reader that Bartleby “means no mischief; it is plain he intends no insolence…. he is useful to me” (Melville 152). This attitude holds strong until Bartleby refuses to do any work at all. The narrator’s thoughts turn into anger again, and he tells Bartleby that “the time has come, you must quit this place” (Melville 159). Nonetheless, after Bartleby also refuses this command, the narrator takes on the responsibility of caring for the poor man. This type of change reflects all of the characters’ changing views of Bartleby throughout the whole story.

Bartleby’s behavior is considered a deviation from the norm because of the conforming behaviors of the other scriveners, Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut. As scriveners, they listen to their employer, the lawyer, and do as they were told. Their actions and reactions build the idea of “society” and how a scrivener should behave. Turkey is “a short, pursy Englishman” that is not far from sixty years old who drinks on the job which makes his work in the afternoon ineffective. Nippers is an ambitious fellow whose impatience stems from the mundane duties of being a “mere copyist” and has trouble working in the morning due to his stomach issues. The last

As the story of “Bartleby, the Scrivener” is told, the narrator’s view of him constantly changes, the narrator debates with himself over Bartleby’s actions and the correct response to take. Bartleby’s influence over the office manifests itself through the narrator’s inner frustration. The narrator wrestles with a courteous but uninterested worker. He finds himself lost when confronted with Bartleby’s presence. The narrator’s frustration indirectly puts Bartleby in control. Bartleby can recognize that his behavior causes the narrator to become aggravated and can allow Bartleby to get what he wants. Examples being how he wants a place to stay, and not to have to read through copies, share personal information, or generally take orders from his

In a society where work is portrayed as needed, individuals that prefer not to are seen as rebels and enemies of the capitalist way of life. I think that Bartleby is a victim of this capitalist way of life, him and the Queen are cultural rebels, they represent the absurdity of work and the necessity of identity.

I should have been quite regulated with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically." (Melville 9). This nature of working disturbed the employer because he noticed the machine-like style of Bartleby's. Bartleby's lack of human qualities bothered the narrator, as he did later become concerned about Bartleby's condition and began to inquire of his past.

In the beginning the narrator mentioned how he had grown to like Bartleby as he said, “After a few words touching his qualifications, I engaged him, glad to have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect, which I thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of Turkey, and the fiery one of Nippers.” (Melville, 25) This quote shows that in the very beginning Bartleby was very quite and calm. It also mentions how the temper of Turkey and Nippers was the other copyists in the short story. Nippers gets very aggarvated in the day but at noon is calm.

He was able to see that the man he hired was using his office for his own living home. “For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not unpleasing sadness.”(Herman Melville, page 320). the narrator is feeling sad for Bartleby, he feels sad that the man who works for him is lonely and has no one to be with. However, as the story keeps going Bartleby refused to do anything. When asked to do something his simple words are, “I prefer not to.” the narrator did not like this and he got mad that he decided to move his business somewhere else. He didn't want to be in charge of Bartleby when the man would not do any work. He was proud of himself for leaving him behind without getting angry but being able to control his anger. “When again I entered my office, lo, a note from the landlord lay upon my desk. I opened it with trembling hands. It informed me that the writer had sent to the police, and had Bartleby remove to the Tombs as a vagrant.” (Herman Melville, page 329). everyone knew that the narrator knew more about Bartleby then they did. They wanted the narrator to be able and do something about Bartleby. As Bartleby was in the Tomb the narrator took time out to go and visit him. The first time he visited him Bartleby ignored him. The narrator out of his good character went to the person who cooks for them and gave him money so he can get Bartleby some good food. As stubborn as

The narrator went to great lengths to avoid a confrontation. When Bartleby refused to leave the office after being fired, the narrator chose to move his office to a different location instead of removing the eccentric man by force. The narrator informs the reader of this idea when he says, “ No more then. Since he will not quit me, I must quit him. I will change my offices.” (2422) By doing so, the narrator displays just how far man is sometimes willing to go to avoid conflict. The final theme is man’s desire to have a free conscience. Melville reveals this theme through the actions of the narrator as well as the new tenants of the office. The narrator attempts to appease his conscience by giving Bartleby money above his wages when he fired him. The new tenants of the office try to put the responsibility of dealing with Bartleby back on the narrator, but they are denied and eventually have the man removed from the premises by law officers. Herman Melville uses the actions and reactions of the characters in “Bartleby the Scrivener” to disclose three important themes, alienation, man’s desire to avoid conflict, and man’s desire to keep a free conscience. In doing so, he gives us an inside look into the workings of the human mind. The reader is left with the impression that all people, including lawyers, have compassion for other humans, and at some point, that

            The lawyer came to understand and respect Bartleby.  However strange and annoying Bartleby's declines became, his employer could not bring himself to fire, or even be infuriated with, Bartleby.  He knew the logical thing would be to dismiss him, but Bartleby made an impression upon the lawyer that he rather respected.  Upon Bartleby's decline to examine a copy, the attorney thought, "With any other man I should have flown outright into a dreadful passion, scorned all further words, and thrust him ignominiously from my presence.  But there was something about Bartleby that not only strangely disarmed me, but, in a wonderful manner, touched and disconcerted me."  The lawyer even regarded Bartleby as useful (also because he worked cheaply), and felt that he himself was somehow responsible for Bartleby's well being.  "If I turn him away, the chances are he will fall in with some less indulgent employer, and then he will be rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve."

The narrator reasons that releasing Bartleby from his job would be unnecessarily cruel which indicates his need to do the right thing. The narrator’s pity is inexplicably a reason for Bartleby’s continued employment: “What miserable friendlessness and loneliness are here revealed! His poverty is great; but his solitude how horrible!” (673). In this case, the narrator faces the challenge of giving the poor scribe a place to stay and survive or releasing Bartleby onto the streets where another employer may not be so kind. He also feels, however, that Bartleby’s quirks are not at all easy to accommodate: “In plain fact, he had now become a millstone to me, not only useless as a necklace, but afflictive to bear” (676). The narrator, in this section, faces the need to do the socially acceptable thing. After all, a man who does not work should not be paid or allowed to remain employed. As literary critic Richard J. Zlogar explained in a commentary that analogized Melville’s short story with certain parts of The Bible, “The narrator’s challenge, then, if he is to heal Bartleby’s illness in its social aspect, is the same challenge that confronted Jesus Christ in his interaction with the leper, as discussed by Crossan: he must force his peers ‘either to reject him from their community or to accept the leper within it as well’” (Zlogar 521). Zlogar’s commentary provides insight on what the narrator’s options are; he must either