Bartleby The Scrivener Analysis Essay

Short Story Analysis of “Bartleby, the Scrivener” Mankind is comfortable with certain environments they have become used to and to set schedules that have become a part of them. When man begins to lose control or steer away from the known, he will go through hell and high waters to regain control and get to that comfortable place once again. There is a line between being stubborn and sticking up for what you truly believe in and that is where Bartleby stands. In the short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville, the author introduces the conflict within oneself with the narrator having two choices: choose to continue to be miserable and deal with the source or to gain control over the situation. To start off with you must fully understand the work place and the narrator does a great job at explaining it. The scene is on Wall Street in an office where the narrator is in charge of three workers, all of …show more content…
As soon as Bartleby joins the team there in the Wall Street office things will change and place everyone out of their comfort zone. This begins with Bartleby’s seating arrangement in the office. Instead of working where the other scriveners do he works on the same side as the narrator. There is reasoning behind his placement but this to the narrator is unknowingly the cause to the disruption that is about to begin. Bartleby is out of the narrator’s way but is just close enough for when he is needed. This puts Bartleby at the center of attention. Bartleby rapidly earns a top spot in the narrator’s eye as he does an immense amount of work. The first indicator that made him stand out was when Bartleby was asked to examine a few documents his response was “I would prefer not to” (Mays et al. 380). He said this calmly and with no attitude or hatred towards what was being asked of him. He simply just did not want to do it. Bartleby’s unwillingness to complete tasks asked of him has disrupted the work