Bartleby the Scrivener: A Wall Street Story

How important is identity in the workplace? Each person has their own unique personality and they all think about problems and solutions differently because no two people are exactly the same. But when they work in a building where there could be many other people all striving for the same thing: the foundation of a solid career and the desire to prove themselves worthy of having that position, is their own system of belief enough to set them apart? In the case of this short story, there are three other characters that our narrator describes to us.

They are never given human names, but are given names of things that are decidedly non—human: Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nutr The former two are scriveners whose mannerisms offset to form a unit that is productive all day but also unproductive at the same time.

Neither of them really does to fit the bill of their name, so why would the narrator give them those names? As for the third character, we could deduce his name from the ginger nut cakes that he delivers to the others.

Perhaps his name is a little more distinct and fitting because it describes what his duties are, Nevertheless, our narrator calling these people by these names would suggest that because they are all doing routine things and acting like anyone else in their position would act, they start to blend together and none of them stand out from an employer’s perspective. They‘re all people just doing their job, nothing more, nothing less.

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But when Bartleby is introduced to the story, our narrator starts to describe his habits a little more, and actually calls him by his human name.

We learn quickly that Bartleby is a model employee, working late and with very few demands beyond those asked for by an employee And he not only produces quality work, he produces it quickly So by showing that he is determined to be helpful and successful, perhaps something that other employees have not at that point, Bartleby stands out enough in the mind of the narrator to “keep” his human name. But after some time, when he is given a new assignment, Bartleby calmly replies that he “would prefer not to” be the one who does it. Up to that point, he’s been a doting, efficient employee. His reaction startles the narrator, but not necessarily in a negative way. He might still do the task, but it would be begrudgingly. So maybe it‘s this minor act of defiance that shows that he maintains a bit of self-worth and holds to his ideals while he works among other people who would likely do it without a second thought.

So maybe while the other employees just become one of the crowd at this firm, Bartleby keeps his name because he chooses to hold his own ideals and be efficient at all times. Searching around the Internet, it becomes apparent that there are many ways to interpret this story and almost all of them seem credible Bartleby could be viewed as a rebel in a world of conformity that the workspace can turn into, Maybe it’s a story where the moral is to remember where you come from and not let anything take it away from you. Regardless of what the author’s intention is, people can take something away from this story. The real question is whether or not they will think on it and let it shape them as a person.