So after reading this story the first time, I felt it had to do with the fact of Bartleby sleeping in his office and maybe a broader topic of economic classes. Having this idea in mind I tried to type a blog about it but it just seemed out of place and couldn’t elaborate on it very much, I could say he was saving his money and not spending it on drinking like Turkey and it was the smarter route for him but it didn’t make much sense for me at least. After re-reading it a second time I started to notice a trend that lied with Bartleby and his fellow workers. He is described as a great worker and does a great amount of work that impresses his boss. His only down fall, as far as the boss thinks, is his idea of not wanting to do something or not preferring to do it.
In the story Bartleby starts off as a strong worker, but slowly decreases in his work, for lack of a better word, “ability”, he begins to slow down to eventually not doing any work at all. This annoys the narrator to the point of trying to fire Bartleby, but he does not prefer that, the lawyer ends up moving his whole practice to avoid Bartleby, who lives in the building scaring other tenants. When arrested and put in jail, the narrator attempts to help him and get him special food but he does not prefer it, he winds up dying in jail, taking no help from anyone.
The idea I got from reading this story is going against the norm, and not being a yes sir kind of person. While all the other employees ran to the lawyers side when he called, Bartleby did his own thing, still doing his assigned work (sometimes), but still followed his own path. He lived with out being controlled by others and broke free from the orders of the narrator, such as America declaring their Independence from Britain, they had their right to do so, just like Bartleby, not needing help from the outside, just governing himself as one.
Yes, Bartleby’s behavior is hard to interpret. In one way it can be seen as going against the norm as you mentioned, which is evidential in multiple occasions when he refused to check his work, or to have a walk when the lawyer asked him to. If this action of Bartleby is seen as rebellious, if his purpose of doing so is to go against the norm, it should be praised in a sense because of his bravery and of the revolutionary value.
I also saw in this story a very unhappy, stuck, and desperate man who suffered from life situation and his own incapability. I do not know whether his unhappiness rooted from his family situation or his love life, but at least I believe his job was not at all exciting. He essentially spent his entire day copying words. I see little or nearly no fun in doing such a thing, especially when there are thousands of interesting jobs out there. This may be linked to his being stuck. Yes, there might be many other jobs that cheer up those who do them, but I am wondering if Bartleby had the ability to do those jobs or not. If yes, he was in the wrong place, and so was unhappy. If no, then he was stuck in his own limit, the limit that nature posed on him by birth.
Bartleby led a meaningless life, at least and most importantly to him. I saw in his rebellion a struggle for self value. Other people took the same job but they did not feel the same way, or they might feel it too but did not dare to go there, to feel downgraded or of little importance. Most of Bartleby’s responses are very short and similar – “I prefer not to”. By saying so, “I prefer”, he was asserting very strongly a personal opinion to a request. Such a response might provoke the listener’s temper but I think it gave Bartleby himself such a great comfort in owning and asserting his self, regardless how little it might be.