Bartleby The Scrivener Character Analysis

The number 23 describes the famous basketball player Michael Jordan. When someone mentions Steve Jobs, they automatically think of Apple. Actress, Marilyn Monroe, became notorious for her birthmark. When one refers to Bartleby, they think of the symbols that describe his strange, mysterious character. In the story, “Bartleby the Scrivener,” a public records office begins to search for a new employee. When only one gentleman shows up for the job, the boss gives the strange man, Bartleby, a job as a filer. After a few days, the new employee will not listen to the boss. This extraordinary man merely states, “I prefer not to,” when requested to complete a duty. Consequently, the boss gets weary of Bartleby’s behavior and attempts to get rid of

After the boss finds Bartleby dead, he discovers that he died with a dead letter. This becomes intriguing in view of the fact that Bartleby dedicated the last six years of his life delivering dead letters. Ultimately, the last dead letter Bartleby delivered was to himself. “Dead letters! Does it not sound like dead men?... he whom it would relieve, nor eats nor hungers any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved calamities. On errands of life, these letters speed to death” (323). In the beginning of the story, cadaverous and ghostly are the descriptions given to Bartleby. These characteristics are depicted through Bartleby’s dull, unhealthy appearance and his calm, abnormal personality. Though Bartleby is alive, he has definite qualities that make the reader ponder if he is dead inside. After Bartleby’s death in the story, the narrator mentions Bartleby 's past job of delivering dead letters sounds extremely alike to dead men, which now Bartleby is. Furthermore, the thought of undeliverable letters that “speed to death,” that go on “errands of life,” brings curiosity and suspicion to the reader. Additionally, the narrator portrays the idea that getting rid of dead objects is the best-fit job for someone comparable to Bartleby’s loss of life. Eventually, the reader is left to discern the correlation between Bartleby’s death and his old occupation, and how these significant symbols describe Bartleby’s incomprehensible