Blog Post #1-Topic #2-Mingyu Zhang

Bartleby, the Scrivener. A Story of Wall-Street has long been disputed since the story came out in the 19^th century. The controversy remains on the main character, Bartleby, a scrivener working for a lawyer in the story. On one side, people argue against Bartleby’s extremely bizarre and passive response to the requests asked by his employer, the narrator of the story. They believe that Bartleby could have explained his reason and logic instead of refusing by saying “I would prefer not to”. However, given the circumstances at the time of the story, when employers had inarguable power over workers, Bartleby’s behavior is a way to fight against the self-righteousness and superiority many employers possess and brutal working on Wall Street.

Indeed, Bartleby’s reluctance to do anything demanded by the narrator seems awkward and inappropriate to most of us today, especially when we are living in a world valuing positive networking and communication. Even worse, his lame and ambiguous slogan shows disrespect and lack of interest in his job. But considering the exhausting and boring nature of Bartleby’s job, a scrivener working for a lawyer on Wall street, his refusal to examine the copy is understandable to some extent. As described by the narrator in the story, the examination of law documents is “a very dull, wearisome, and lethargic affair”. He even states that Byron would never be willing to sit along with his scriveners to do the work together.

It may seem odd to readers when Bartleby doesn’t do a single errand asked by the narrator. What on earth reason does he have to refuse the demands from his boss? Buying a cup of coffee for your employers when they are in the middle of business is nothing of significance to today’s people, but by consenting to such request, we easily neglect that workers don’t necessarily have to fulfill any wishful thinking employers have beyond the scope of their jobs. In Bartleby’s case, he is stubborn and unbelievable, but I only interpret it as the writer’s intention to draw our attention to the self-righteous manner of employers. In the story, when the narrator finds that Bartleby would prefer not to do any trivial errand, and he immediately feels shocked and starts to contemplate ways to fight back and test Bartleby’s limit. Some may argue that the narrator is obsessed to Bartleby’s strange behavior, but the he is culpable as well because he doesn’t stop asking and even considers it his right to demand. It is no wonder then for a man like Bartleby to keep refusing the requirements.

At the end of the story, the narrator reveals a rumor that Bartleby had worked in the Dead Letter Office previously and thus his passive and reclusive behavior would be explainable, since that job is even more grueling and soulless. This revelation is relevant to the reason for him to quit copying. Through his occasional meditation during the time working for the narrator, he might finally blame his miserable situation to the weariness and in-human nature of the work on Wall Street.

I admit that in real life, a person like Bartleby most likely doesn’t exist, but his muted occupation of Wall Street is a symbol of people with lower social status voicing their preferences and attitude.