Ambiguity

Exactly why does Bartleby always "prefer not to"/ Why cant he make friend ,or communicate? Whats at the heart of his rebellion? Why doesn't he quit and get a different job? Why does the Boss have sympathy for Bartleby? what else in the story seems open to individual readers 'interpretation?

Bartelby always "prefer not to" because he is depressed about his life and is tired of being ordered around constantly. While reading the story, I constantly thought that Bartelby was a ghost because he was always in the office. When you're working day and night, it's very hard for a person to meet a friend or communicate to others outside of work. Bartelby doesn't quit the job because he realizes that his boss is a one of kind by letting him work and reside at the office. If Bartelby was to get a different job, he would be forced to find a place to sleep. The boss have sympathy for Bartelby because of his quiet, shy personality. The boss notices that Bartebly isn't the sociable type as his other scriveners. I believe that there isn't a specific interpretation, however a general interpretation due to the story's dull details.

Paradox

Bartleby is stubborn, self-absorbed, rebellious, and insubordinate, yet many readers, and even the narrator, the Boss himself, have a deep sympathy for him. Why?
Others?

Bartelby's lack of communicating with others, no place to stay and no one to question brings readers to sympathize him.Reading that Bartleby lived in the office and had nowhere to reside made me sympathize him. Additionally, Bartleby never says a word to anyone unless he is spoken to. This makes me feel that Bartelby is alone in the world with no friend or anyone. Along with his unsociable side , Bartelby also never asks for help. I believe that everyone need a shoulder to lean on or a person to ask for advice to or even a simple question to. However, Bartelby doesn't have anyone at all, hence the reason why I sympathize him.

Irony

The boss doesn't recognize that his own passiveness is as persistent and frustrating as Bartleby's . Or that his genteel , self- interested interest in Bartleby is leading to no good . Can you think of other ironies?


One irony that sticks to my head is the narrator's profession. As we know, the narrator (lawyer) owns a office on Wall Street. When we think of Wall Street, the first thing that comes to my mind is strict money. Wall Street is like a casino, the only thing different is that people gamble their life savings to make more. With that being said, Wall Street should be a strict atomsphere. In the story, we're aware that the narrator moves his office location because Bartelby refuses to leave. For the narrator to just get up and leave just because of Bartlbey's refusal trigger my thoughts. 

Plot

What background information does the narrator relate that gives us a greater understanding of the events unfolding?
Why does the information about Bartleby's previous employment come at the end of the story rather than at the beginning?
Complication-
How does the Boss react when Bartleby repeatedly refuses to perform his duties? How does his reaction intensify? What is the Boss's dilemma?

Climax-Where do you feel the events reach their pinnacle? Where is the conflict most intense, the clash most "explosive"?

Resolution-What's the outcome of the explosion? 
Epiphany-who has gained insight in this story, Bartleby or the Boss, or anybody?


In Bartelby the Scrivener, the narrator (lawyer) gives us information on his office. The office is located on Wall Street. The lawyer describes his employees and Bartleby's arrival to the office.By given this information, we the readers have a clue of what the story is about. I beleive that Bartelby's previous emplyment comes at the end of the story because, the author wanted to make the short story suspenseful. If the author mentioned Bartelby's previous occupation in the beginning of the story, readers wouldn't find the story as interesting because there would be nothing to look foward to.Throughout the story, Bartleby refuses to do any type of work other than copying papers. Every time Bartleby says his infamous line "I prefer not to" , it shocks the boss because no one ever declined him before. At one point in the story, the lawyer questions whether or not he's wrong for asking Bartelby to do anything. However after consulting the other scriveners, the lawyer notices he's done nothing wrong.. One day after being fed up with Bartelby's "I prefer not to", the boss finally asks why he does prefers not to do any work. As Bartelby stays silent, the lawyer just accept him. I believe that the lawyer's dilemma is that he wants to terminate Bartleby due to his poor work ethic. On the other hand,, the boss admires Bartelby's personality and doesn't have the guts to terminate him.. I believe the climax of the story is when the lawyer asks Bartleby to pack his possesions and leave the office, but Bartleby refuses. By doing this forced the boss to pack up and move his office, all because of Bartleby. As a result, the lawyer loses sympathy for Bartelby. The outcome of this explosion is that the boss leaves Bartleby in his office and moves his business elsewhere.I don't believe that anyone gained insight, however I think that the boss gave up on Bartleby,.

Theme

Does the story leave you thinking anything ? feeling anything? what do you make out of it all? passive , aggressive people are difficult to accommodate, difficult to ignore. Passive resistance is a radical form of rebellion. Offices , where Americans spend the greater part of their lives , are not democracies . have a life outside work! don't expect your occupation to bear the burden of your existence. what other ideas does the story suggest to you?

Bartelby the Scrivener left me in a vex state of mind for two reasons. For one, I strongly disliked the Bartelby's infamous line "I prefer not to". Additionally, I hated the ending of the story (Bartelby's death). Although I disliked Bartelby's infamous line, I must admit that his line brought suspense and amusement to the story.Also, the story is a hidden message to reveal that day to day citizens bring their jobs to home. The boss stressed his want for Bartelby to get tasks accomplished by offering him food in jail, another job and even inviting him to his house. This short story is most definitely hard to interpret. With little details and boring, vague words, the story seems boring at first. However when you get the feeling of the story, you experince its meaningful theme.

Point of View

Who tells the story? - the first person narrator, who is flawed but human…He's reliable, we trust him. His actions definitely support what he tells us about himself; especially the part about being a man who likes to take the "easy" way. What else is gained by telling this story from the Boss's perspective? Why not Bartleby's perspective? Why not one of the other clerks?


Bartelby the Scrivener is written in first person point of view by the narrator (lawyer). As said in the question, the lawyer's actions really does support everything he tells us. For instance in the story, the lawyer shows his sympathetic side by protecting Bartelby and letting him work independently in the office so no one could abuse him. It's beneficial to have the story told in first person point of view because it lets us readers engage in the feelings of the protagonist (lawyer). I believe Bartelby's point of view would be better because, us eager readers would finally know why Bartelby says his infamous line "I prefer not to". I believe that by having the story told in major characters point of view make the tone of the story mature and humorous.The two major characters Bartelby and the lawyer are both mature adults. However, the minor characters are immature adults and would make the story less amusing.

Characters (Bartelby the Scrivener)

Protagonist/Antagonist?- what is the Boss up against in the person of Bartleby? Does Bartleby represent a force beyond himself as an individual ? Major / Minor (who are the major players in the story ? What do we know about them ? Are they likable ? Sympathetic? Realistic ? What's the function of the story's minor characters?) Dynamic / static -who changes? who stays the same ? is the story about growth or change ? Round / flat - who is the round character? who is the flat character?

In the story Bartelby the Scrivener, I believe that the protagonist is the lawyer (narrator) due to his desire to search for a well, reliable worker. Also, the antagonist of the story is the soft spoken Bartelby due to his ability to do nothing. In the story, the lawyer (also the boss) has to deal with Bartelby's stubborn, cantankerous personality. In the beginning of the short story, Bartelby was a hard working employer. Following and obeying every task given by his boss, Bartelby found himself on the boss's good side. However as the story advanced, the readers are opened up to the true Bartelby. Bartelby does less work than he initially did when he first received the job. It comes to a point where Bartelby simply says to his boss "I prefer not to" after each request. Bartelby definitely represent a force behind himself as an individual who's powerful with a soft voice. Bartelby's ability to simply respond "I prefer not to" without giving s brief reason why he refuses to do a task shows that Bartelby isn't a push over. In the story, the major characters are the Boss and Bartelby and the minor characters are Gingernut, Nippers and Turkey. As we know, the story revolves around Bartelby and the lawyer. Bartelby is an individual that can be liked or hated by different people. Some may dislike Bartelby's work ethic in the end of the story while others may applaud it. Same goes for the lawyer in the story. Some people may admire his ability to search diligently for an employer while others may dislike his numerous requests to Bartelby. I believe that only the lawyer is realistic character due to his personality. It's very common to see bosses search for a hard working employee. However, Bartelby isn't realistic in my opinion because of his vague response of "I prefer not to". The minor characters are also realistic in my opinion because they represent pedestrian employers. In my opinion the only character that changed in the story was Bartelby. Bartelby transformed from a hard working employee to a nuisance. It's safe to say that every other character besides Bartelby stays the same. As Bartelby refuses to complete given tasks in a calm matter, the boss is introduced to a new perspective in life. I believe that the story is about change because in the beginning of the story, the boss does anything for a hard working employee and his want for a hardworker back fires when he's employee refuses. Every character in this story has an impact to make the plot complete, so I believe that there aren't any flat characters.

Plantation Life (Work Cited)

• all slaves must answer masters with up most respect. "Yes Master", "right away master"
• slaves were expected to work hard under any conditions
• if a master felt disrespected in any way, the slaves could be subject to whippings at any time.

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215086/dailylife.htm
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plantation.htm

Abolition Movement (Work Cited)

• The Abolition Movement happened in the 1800s to end slavery not only in the United States, but other countries as well.
• The Quaker Thomas Clarkson known as the father of the Abolition Movement
• Banned the trade in slaves in Great Britian in 1807.

Fugitive Slave Act (Work Cited)

http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images/encyclopediaimages/s/sl/slave_kidnap_post_1851_boston.jpg

• This act stated that any United States official or marshall who didn't arrest a runaway slave and send him or her back to its owner would be subject to a fine.
• The reason of this act was to stabilize slavery in the south by enforcing strict laws

http://thomaslegion.net/fugitiveslaveactof1850.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/fugitive-slave-law-of-1850

Slavery and Settings in North America (Work Cited)

The most known setting of Slavery in North America is the southern region of the United States. However, slavery also existed in the Caribbean. Many Caribbean Islands such as Jamaica and Barbados had multiple slaves. The Caribbean was broken down into two sections during the 1800s, The French Caribbean and the British Caribbean. The French Caribbean consists of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. However the British Caribbean consists of Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada and etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_British_and_French_Caribbean
http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/carib/slavery.htm

Slave Trade (Work Cited)

1. Slaves were treated horribly in the passage to the New World. (many intense beating that ended in death sometimes)
2. Slaves were traded for goods such as cloth, agricultural goods, oil, etc.
3. Blacks were forced to settle in tight, unsanitary living conditions while on voyage.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/slavery.htm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_Ten_facts_on_the_slave_trade

http://web.rollins.edu/~jsiry/slave_trade.gif

Harriet Jacobs (Work Cited)

• was born in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813
• Harriet's mother's name was Delilah and her father's name was Daniel Jacobs (carpenter)
• Harriet found out she was a slave after her mother passed away when she was six years old.
• Harriet's grandmother and mistress Margaret taught her how to read and sew.
• writer of The Incidents of a Slave Girl
• Cruelty is contagious in uncivilized communities.- Harriet Ann Jacobs
• Always it gave me a pang that my children had no lawful claim to a name.- Harriet Ann Jacobs  
• http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/harriet_ann_jacobs.html 
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2923.html
• http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/jaco-har.htm