The reader is astonished with his conclusion that, not only will he not force Bartleby to move, he, himself will move without Bartleby. This not being a logical solution, he moves on to the question of whether or not Bartleby could be considered a vagrant. His though process begins with the suggestion that, allowing Bartleby’s occupation of his offices would result in him having to “mason up his remains in the wall”, when he died. Melville is calling on the reader’s “little guy” to relate to the subconsciously driven behaviour of the characters.Īs the employer becomes more agitated, as a result of his circle of friends and acquaintances’ comments, Melville shares his mental gymnastics with the reader. He then replies, “Oh, certainly, sir, if you prefer that I should”, upon being asked to leave the room. After suggesting that Bartleby “would prefer to take a quart of good ale every day”, Turkey states, “Oh. Nippers, Turkey and the lawyer becomes filled with the word “prefer”, the expression which has caused everyone such grief up to that point. How many times would we have used this statement in our lives if we had no fear of the repercussions? As the story progresses and Bartleby’s behaviour is becoming the norm, the banter between Mr. To some degree, the “little guy” in us is somewhat envious of Bartleby’s statement, “I prefer not to”. When his conscience no longer provides for rationalizing the acceptance of Bartleby’s strange behaviour, Melville invites the reader to appreciate the behaviour’s usefulness.

Since there is no excusing Bartleby’s behaviour, Melville finds solace in rationalizing his reaction and the reader is quick to empathize, having found no explanation for the behaviour.

Melville scrivener