Bartleby, the scrivener
This short novel tells a story about Bartleby. He is a small scrivener who is responsible for copying some legal documents. At the beginning, Bartleby worked very hard, did a lot of work every day, until one time the boss asked Bartleby to help him proofread the documents, but Bartleby said :”I prefer not to. After that, Bartleby refused the boss’s request until he finally decided not to write. Later, the boss found a new place for his office and fired Bartleby. However, Bartleby still stayed in the original place and refused to leave, and then he was eventually arrested in prison and died later.
The following is the text I choose:
“Why， how now？ what next？” exclaimed I， “do no more writing？”
“No more.”
“And what is the reason？”
“Do you not see the reason for yourself，” he indifferently replied.
I looked steadfastly at him， and perceived that his eyes looked dull and glazed. Instantly it occurred to me， that his unexampled diligence in copying by his dim window for the first few weeks of his stay with me might have temporarily impaired his vision
I like this scene because this part inspired me. Before I read this part, I thought this story just about an employee who dared to say no to the boss, but after reading it, I realized that I might have lost something. So I went back to the beginning. Then I found out that as lawyers, their main job is to deal with things like bonds, mortgages, title deeds and so on of rich people. This reminds me of why Bartleby has been saying no to the boss. I think he knows that their work is essentially helping the rich to encroach on the property of others, which makes many people homeless. So he always said “prefer not to” to refuse anything that is unjust for him. But the lawyer believes that Bartleby only accuses him of ignoring the health of his eyes. Bartleby did this in order to resist the unfair system of society at the time. The system is unfair, but we cannot get rid of or oppose the social system in which we live. Bartleby, who didn’t know how to fight against the unjust system, so he was only negative (say no to his boss), but it turned out that this what he had done was useless, but it led to his self-destruction.
start at10:40