Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street

What I find so genius about the way Melville composed Bartleby the Scrivener is that it is hard to tell whether the narrator is good or bad. The narrator is a safe man who is not a big risk taker, tries hard to conform to societal norms, and it seems that his priorities are having economic stability and maintaining an easy life. Depending on how the story is interpreted, the way the narrator treats Bartleby could be several things: impartial, sympathetic, helpful, or emotionless. Melville puts nothing in clear cut, black and white terms. I wonder about the relationship between Bartleby and the narrator. The narrator tries to connect with Bartleby but somehow he is not able to help him or maybe he does not try hard enough to reach out to him. I am not sure. I also wonder if the narrator and the other characters (Nippers and Turkey) could have helped Bartleby if they acted differently or created a more positive environment in the workplace. Or was Bartleby beyond help? Something else I found interesting is how Bartleby repeatedly says, “ I prefer not to,” whenever something is asked of him. Why doesn’t he just say, “I won’t do it?” From lines 70 to 78 the narrator seems to get frustrated with Bartleby because Bartleby makes it seem as him preferring not to do something is different from not doing something. But it’s clear from the story that when Bartleby says, “I prefer not to,” it means that he “will not” do it.