Bartleby Transformation

248 Words1 Pages
As conveyed by the narrator, Bartleby’s character is both inscrutable and eccentric. The narrator, a lawyer in New York, relates to the reader the story of Bartleby with questionable reliability. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, Bartleby's character is able to evoke strong emotions. As someone employed to destroy lost correspondence, Bartleby becomes a despondent, carefree person and employs his phrase, “I would prefer not to” to avoid all manners of responsibility. His passive attitude eventually leads him to be incarcerated and to his demise, but he seemingly remained carefree all along the way. In spite of his neutrality throughout the short story, he is still able to evoke strong emotions. The emotions he calls forward