In a sense, the lawyer's entire life revolves around objects and ideas which do not make sense to him although he is not aware of this. The walls of Bartleby conflict with the lawyer's walls, but both are designed to keep both the lawyer and Bartleby safe from the outside world. The lawyer's safe haven is where his office is: Wall Street. On Wall Street, the lawyer knows exactly what …
Eventually the lawyer decided to pack up everything in his office and move to a different location, he thought by leaving Bartleby behind, the problem would be solved, but he was wrong, his conscience was disturbing him, at one point he thought that Bartleby may even be a ghost, or a figure sent from God to address the wrongs of his actions; even thought the office was …
The timeline below shows where the character The Other Lawyer appears in Bartleby, the Scrivener. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Bartleby, the Scrivener. ...shows up at the new office. All is going smoothly, until a different lawyer ( The Other Lawyer ) arrives to ask whether The Lawyer has ...
The lawyer does try to help him. Instead of summarily firing Bartleby or throwing him out on the street when the odd behavior begins, he makes every effort to talk to Bartleby and get to the ...
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 ...
The Lawyer agrees to speak to Bartleby. Bartleby is as passively stubborn as ever. The Lawyer even offers to allow Bartleby to live in his own home, but Bartleby refuses to move from the banister.
The problem is, however, that he doesn't leave the office; in fact, he lives there secretly. The narrator can't do anything to get rid of him, so he just lets him sit around and gets Nippers and Turkey to pick up his slack.
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.
A successful lawyer on Wall Street hires Bartleby, a scrivener, to relieve the load of work experienced by his law firm. For two days, Bartleby executes his job with skill and gains the owner's confidence for his diligence.
The Narrator does this because he cannot bare to be mean to Bartleby, because he just does not have it in him to do anything negative towards him. He even tries to bribe him with extra pay for him to leave the office, rather than simply firing him.Mar 10, 2015
The narrator consistently feels sympathy towards Bartleby because he can see that there seems to be something wrong with Bartleby as if he is depressed making him want to fire him because he believes other employers may not understand him as he does and could abuse of him.
Ordinarily, the narrator would have considered firing Bartleby, but because of Bartleby's composure and rational manner and because the narrator is preoccupied with business, he moves on to more pressing matters. A few days later, Bartleby refuses to take part in scanning his own sheaf of quadruplicates.
Landlord's Tenants: Office renters who are disturbed by Bartleby's presence. Mr. Cutlets: Cook at the jail. Officer and Two Turnkeys: Prison officials who help the narrator find Bartleby after the latter's arrest.
Story DetailsCharacters/ThemesExplanationsBartlebya new scrivener at the law office and the story's antagonistThe lawyerthe protagonist and narrator of the storyTurkeyan old scrivener who is the same general age as the lawyer, 60Nippersan ambitious scrivener with a fiery personality.4 more rows•Oct 11, 2021
Bartleby, the Scrivener His work suffers from the onset of a mental aberration which causes him to decline direct instructions from his employer, then lapse into periods of nonconformity and self-isolation. His lean face and calm gray eyes reveal no agitation — only the intransigence that leads to the story's conflict.
The Lawyer tells us that something in Bartleby's nature "disarmed him," and Bartleby's steadfast refusal to do what was asked of him confounds the Lawyer.
The Lawyer tries one last time to get Bartleby to examine the document, but business hurries him and he and his workers examine the document without Bartleby, though the other scriveners mutter that they won't examine another man's document without pay ever again. The Lawyer has now become fascinated by Bartleby, and watches him closely.
In "Bartleby," this action occurs in the rapid imprisonment, decline and death of Bartleby, all in the space of about three pages (the exact climax is probably when the Lawyer, after confronting Bartleby on the banister, is refused for the last time, and leaves Bartleby to be taken to prison).
The Lawyer calls in all his employees—Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut —to work on the examination. But when he calls Bartleby to assist as well, the scrivener again replies that he "would prefer not to.". The Lawyer presses him, wanting to know why he refuses, but Bartleby can only reply that he would "prefer not to.".