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It's ultimately not a situation that can be tolerated, and Bartleby's decline and fall comes fast and hard. The narrator tries to be understanding, but Bartleby doesn't want to be understood: he prefers nothing, beyond being left to his own devices. He settles in and then does as he pleases - not actively disturbing anyone, but the most passive irritant one can imagine.īartleby, the Scrivener is tragic-comic, and Bartleby an individual who stands essentially totally apart from society. His stock phrase soon becomes: "I would prefer not to."Īs it turns out, he would prefer not to do most things he's asked, whether reveal any of his history, run an errand, do a specific task, or finally even quit his employment. I can see that figure now - pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn !Īn industrious worker at first, Bartleby proves soon enough to be a less than ideal employee. The story is written retrospectively, and that colours the narrator's description of their first encounter:
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Thrust into this environment, Bartleby, however, remains largely a cipher. The narrative begins with a description of the offices before Bartleby's arrival, and the other employees - nicknamed, with personal quirks - are part of what has become at least a loose family of sorts, even if it does not extend beyond the workplace. It is an account of a person of almost no account:īartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and, in his case, those are very small.īartleby is an employee his background, history, personal circumstances are not of particular interest to his employer - but even he surely expected to come to know more of Bartleby eventually. First published in book-form as part of The Piazza Talesīartleby, the Scrivener is narrated by a lawyer who comes to hire Bartleby as a copyist.General information | our review | links | about the author Trying to meet all your book preview and review needs. Most people follow rules only because they feel they are supposed to, and individuals such as Bartleby implicitly force them to think about why they are doing what they are doing.Bartleby, the Scrivener - Herman Melville People are bound by societal rules and feel threatened by the few who politely refuse to abide by the rules. I think Melville used “prefer” in his literature to show that a polite yet persistent use of a word can be influential enough for people to question their own individuality. The fact that he was unable to perform anymore writing because he was physically incapable of doing so, might have been important enough for him to say the word “no.”įurthermore, involuntarily, everyone else in the office started using “prefer.” Annoyed with Bartleby’s behavior, which was augmented by his sour mood at the time, Turkey derided Bartleby’s use of the word “prefer.” Turkey also stated that he seldom uses the word “prefer,” yet upon asked to quit picking on Bartleby, his response was “Oh certainly, sir, if you prefer that I should” without realizing that he used “prefer” (page 310). His use of the word “prefer” can imply that he used “prefer” when he was physically and mentally capable of participating in examining the papers but he chose not to do so. Bartleby chose to be polite yet obdurate in preserving his individuality throughout the course of the story by simply repeating, “I would prefer not to.” In only one instance, Bartleby said no was when his vision was impaired and he decided not to do any more writing (page 311). It took the lawyer a while to realize that Bartleby meant no in a polite manner and he was impervious to reasoning (page 302). However, Bartleby uses “prefer” as a substitute for “no.” The first time Bartleby used his famous phrase, “I would prefer not to,” the narrator could not believe his ears. Preferring to do something often implies that if one had a choice, one would rather not perform the task, but in the case that one does not have a choice, s/he will perform the task assigned. The dictionary definition of the word “prefer” is, “like (one thing or person) better than another or others tend to choose” ( ). While the meaning of the word is misleading and a source of irritation to his employer and co-workers, Bartleby was stolid and unaffected by their reaction. Bartleby’s use of the word “prefer” is a powerful choice in this literature.