The first time, too, the narrator is in a hurry, so he lets the incident pass. Although he never knows exactly why Bartleby stops working, the narrator finds out at the end that Bartleby once worked for the Dead Letter Office, a place where lost letters end up.
On the first two occasions when Bartleby states his preference not to work, there is something in his quiet demeanor that is so odd that the narrator doesn't push him, though he says he would ordinarily have been very upset. The first time, too, the narrator is in a hurry, so he lets the incident pass.
It is never clear why Bartleby's attitude toward his work changes—his motives are ambiguous, and this ambiguity is a big part of what makes Melville's story so compelling.
Bartleby was a fine employee, compared to the others in the office that had their own flaws, such as only being good workers for half of the days at a time. A pattern develops within the office when the Narrator asks Bartleby to do mundane tasks that are not 100% related to copying.
The lawyer doesn't fire Bartleby after he declines to work, instead he gives Bartleby another chance. The lawyer preference to remain calm shows that he chooses to stray from confrontation. Bartleby continuous refusal to work leads to him being fired, but he refuses to leave.
The Lawyer believes he is doing a good, Christian thing by allowing Bartleby to continue existing in his office. However, Bartleby's presence soon begins to draw the notice of some of the Lawyer's clientele, and he decides that Bartleby is bad for business.
Though the Lawyer admits that "nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance," he eventually comes to pity Bartleby, believing that he "intends no mischief" and his "eccentricities are involuntary." The Lawyer decides to "cheaply purchase a delicious self-approval" by determining to keep Bartleby on ...
With the sudden changes of Bartleby, the Lawyer feels overpowered, and it is like he does not have any power over his employees like Bartleby. Marcus explains that Bartleby is a psychological double for the Lawyer. The author says that Bartlebys power over the Lawyer quickly grows as the story progresses (Marcus 1).
The Lawyer He is level-headed, industrious, and has a good mind for business. He is good at dealing with people, at least until he meets Bartleby.
The lawyer acts quite contrary to what one would expect, especially from a lawyer. He appears to be calm and almost non-irritable by Bartleby's responses.
Herman Melville's 'Bartleby, the Scrivener' is a short story that takes place in a Wall Street law office. The story's first-person narrator is the lawyer who runs the law office.
The Narrator decides, rather irrationally, that instead of forcing Bartleby to leave the office, he will pack up his whole practice and move to another building, just to escape.