Seeing as I have read this story before, I felt as though I had a certain advantage over everyone else. I was sadly mistaken. As much as I enjoyed Herman Melville’s little story, it confused me to no end. I felt as though literally every single word Melville chose served some ulterior motive and because of that I remembered that I must put delicate care into reading it. The story is long enough as it is but I had to read over it methodically again and again in order to even begin to grasp at the themes that laid within the lines (though in all honesty I feel like I was grasping at straws). With that being said, I’ve decided to take on the challenge Professor Kaufman laid out before us last class and tried cross-examining one of my favorite lines in an attempt to flush out one of those themes from the literary bushes.
The line I’d like to discuss is Bartleby’s all-famous catch-phrase “I would prefer not to.” Short, simple, and direct; when read in Bartleby’s politely droll tone, the recipient (and reader) of his phrase would be almost forced to treat Bartleby tenderly no matter the circumstance. Every time the narrator asked of something from Bartleby, he would hear the same response. At times he would become agitated, but it never escalated into anything serious. Now why is that? Is it because the narrator is too craven (#GameOfThrones) to chew out his own employee or is it because he pities him? I’m pretty sure it’s the latter. When the narrator hears Bartleby’s gentle retort, he feels almost guilty; guilty of pushing his own employee to do something. To do the work he’s being paid for! By using the word “prefer” it’s as if Bartleby is denying to do someone a favor and because of that the narrator feels as though he’s being too forceful. You could say that by words alone, Bartleby effectively neutered (almost) everyone he spoke to.
In regards to my title, if Bartleby were alive today I’m 100% sure he’d be a hobo on the streets. Literally no one in this day and age would take that “I would prefer not to” B.S. regardless of how polite he said it. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.
I would also like to use this opportunity to take on the challenge. I think “I prefer not to” is a very interesting phrase, especially with the impact it does in this story. Even though the phrase implies negative form. It sends rejection to whatever is asked of or for. Indeed, this sentence is affirmative. Note that Barteby does not say “I do not prefer”, which is negative. He says “I prefer not”, which is affirmative. This assertion hints the power and control of the speaker, which is quite interesting because it is the power the boss is supposed to have, not Bartleby. Little did I know before reading this text that word order could hold so much meaning and power.
The word “prefer” also plays a big part in this ageless phrase. “Prefer” means one “likes one thing better than the other. This word strongly implies personal sense over one thing. This means there were options lying in front of the speaker and it is up to the speak to pick one he likes. That is it is totally within the speaker’s control to make a decision which is in his favor. How very daring of Bartleby to say so. To be honest, as odd as this character is, I still have to give him credits for his bravery to object his boss’ orders. If I were asked to carry out such objection, I prefer not to.