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Bartleby, the Scrivener, Herman Melville, November 1853, Putnam's Magazine

I had to read Bartleby, the Scrivener in my first semester of college in my favorite class thus far in my further education, American Literature before 1860. The story of Bartleby, the Scrivener is about a man who runs a mortgage, title and bonds sort of company and a new hire to the staff. The man who runs the company is the narrator and at first explains how he thinks the new hire "Bartleby" will be a good addition to the staff to counter-act some of the other at times ill performing members. The narrator soon discovers that Bartleby slowly gets lazier and lazier at work by "preferring not to do it" followed by some failed attempts to reason with him and learn a little bit about how his clock ticks. After a short time Bartleby is doing no work at all, but the narrator can't seem to get rid of him even when he decides to move the offices. Bartleby still does not move from his stomping grounds after the company moves offices and the employees in the narrator's now previous offices continually complain to the narrator about not being able to get rid of him. The narrator gets out of town for a while to get away from the troubles only to find out when returning that Bartleby is in prison. The narrator visits Bartleby in prison who "prefers not to eat" and soon dies in the prison. A little bit after these events the narrator finds out that Bartleby had worked in a "dead letter office" and says to himself "Ah! Bartleby Ah! Humanity". I think this story is put together very well in the context of how the characters were described such as how lonely Melville made Bartleby seem. I also think that this story doesn't have a specific message in it that is solid in its substance. I think this story is supposed to be a metaphor for how people live their lives and the reader is supposed to identify with certain characteristics and reflect it into their own life. This story is a classic and a must read for any English major or any fan of American Literature that pre-dates 1860. Bartleby's meek attitude towards his life is one that you're sure to recognize it's reflection as it has been mimicked in many stories since it's original release. I enjoyed reading this story even though it's a little depressing with Bartley's untimely fate in the end of the story.

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