http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartleby_the_ScrivenerWhen his business increases, he decides to hire a third scrivener, and Bartleby responds to his advertisement and arrives at the office, "pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn!"
At first Bartleby copies diligently, but declines to perform other duties, telling his perplexed boss "I would prefer not to" when asked, for example, to help the other scriveners proofread a document. Later, he stops working altogether, repeating only "I would prefer not to" when pressed for an explanation. (Although many people err in the wording here, it should be noted that Bartleby never actually refuses; he just states he would prefer not to. At one point, when his boss declares angrily "You will not?" he gently replies "I prefer not.")
The narrator, torn between pity and exasperation, also discovers that Bartleby apparently has no home or friends, and lives in the office. Reluctant to dismiss the man, but nettled by what he perceives as his "pallid haughtiness", he tries to persuade him to resume work, or to at least explain himself. Bartleby, however, only repeats his mantra, and the narrator eventually fires him. Bartleby, however, continues to haunt the premises, causing the lawyer considerable embarrassment. Unwilling to have him arrested, the narrator finally moves his offices to escape his presence.
The new tenants, however, soon track him down to complain of the strange man he left behind. Although he protests that Bartleby is nothing to him, he agrees to go speak with him. During the interview, he tries once more to help the young man, even inviting him to be a guest in his own home. Bartleby, however, replies "No: at present, I prefer not to make any change at all." He will not even accept money from the narrator. The new tenants have Bartleby arrested for vagrancy, and he is sent to The Tombs.
When the narrator visits the prison, Bartleby tells him "I know you--and I want nothing to say to you." Nevertheless, he tries to cheer him, and gives the "grub man" a sum of money to provide him with better meals. However, Bartleby "prefers not" to eat, and slowly starves, finally expiring just prior to another visit from the narrator. At the end, the lawyer speculates that Bartleby's rumored previous career in the dead letter office in Washington, D.C., which was sad and depressing, drove him to his bizarre behavior.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
