Bartleby, the Scrivener

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Bartleby or the Lawyer? Who is the Main Character? Who is the main character of Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street”? One assumes that this is a story about Bartleby, the Scrivener, but that is not the case at all. The lawyer/narrator claims this story is a biography of Bartleby’s life from the time of his employment with the lawyer up until his death in prison. The lawyer uses the first few pages of the story to talk about his life, his office on Wall Street and his three employees. Once this is done, he then begins to tell of Bartleby’s life once the lawyer hires him. What makes this story so interesting is the fact that the lawyer is telling the reader how all of Bartleby’s words and actions affect him, instead of just giving a detailed account of Bartleby’s life. As would be the case, if this is truly a biography about Bartleby. The lawyer believes “that the easiest way of life is the best” (Melville 124), and that is exactly how he lives his life up until “a motionless young man” (Melville 128), Bartleby, arrives at his office looking for a job. This mysterious scrivener turns the lawyer’s world upside down. Bartleby demands acceptance in a way that the lawyer cannot understand, because what he does not understand he fears. In response to his fears, the lawyer writes this short story to try to understand how his life becomes so unbalanced, out of order and no longer “safe”. Which leads the reader to believe this is an autobiography about the lawyer, not a biography about Bartleby. The lawyer, himself, tells the reader in the beginning of the story that he is committed to having a well balanced, easy life. He does not want any turmoil in his life. He is very happy “in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat [to] do a snug business” (Melville 124). Thomas Pribek observes in “The ‘Safe’ Man of Wall Street: Characterizing
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