A conversation about American literature past and present.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Boss and Bartleby
Why doesn't the narrator throw Bartleby out as the later occupants of his offices finally do? Why does Bartleby's passivity have such an effect of him? Why is the boss so sympathetic towards Bartleby?
The Boss has grown amazed by Bartleby, and his reactions. The first time Bartleby denied a task by telling the Boss "I prefer not to", the Boss was too shocked to react, and instead assigned another worker to the task. The Boss became fascinated in Bartleby, and wanted desperately to figure him out. He did not get rid of him, but instead found pleasure in Bartlebys simple denials and strived to help him while also trying to figure him out. The reasons behind Bartlebys actions remained a mystery, and I think its part of the reason the Boss kept him around for as long as he did, because he had not figured him out yet, and strived to find out. The Boss was unsure how to act because he had never encountered a man such as Bartleby, and when he did, he was stunned. The Boss kept him around out of pity, and curiousity in his character and reasoning in his actions.
The Boss overtime becomes more thoughtful and curious of Bartleby's reasoning behind his insufficiency. The Boss is very apprehensive of what he should do with Bartleby. His conscience gets the better of him and makes him feel like a bad person if he decided to throw Bartelby out into the world jobless and homeless. Bartleby remained a mystery to the Boss, which inturn made the Boss want to always know more and keep him until this was solved.
The Boss doesn't throw out Bartleby because he pity's him. The later occupants most likely didn't give Bartleby a chance and they didn't see him as a diligent worker. His passsivity has such an effect on the Boss because the Boss has no explanation for it. The Boss is sympathetic to Bartleby because he feels like Bartleby is depressed. The Boss' passivity keeps him from being angry at the Boss. He also feels bad for Bartleby since he learns that Bartleby lives at the office and most likely has no where else to go.
I think that the narrator does not throw Bartleby out like every one else because he feels bad for him becuase he has no one and no where to go. He feels that by helping Bartleby it will be a work of charity or something. At the end when he finds out that Bartleby worked in the Dead Letters Office, I think the lawyer finally had some understanding of why Bartleby acted the way he did. When he worked there he had to burn the letters sent to loved ones that had died. He might have acted this way because he doesn't want to get close to anyone because he does now want them to leave him like all the people in the letters he burned. I think Bartleby's passivity has such an effect on the lawyer because he has never been told no before, and he wants to be able to help Bartleby and feel good about himself.
The Boss keeps Bartelby in the office out of pity. The other scrivers such as Turkey become angry at Bartleby for not doing his work. And when Bartleby decides not to do his job anymore, the boss still does not fire him. When the boss tells him to work and do his job he just responds with, "I prefer not to". The Boss is passive with Bartleby and feels good about himself for being kind to Bartleby though he does not work. Bartleby just sits in the office everyday and does not do anything, rather than work well part of the day and work poorly part of the day. When the Boss decides he might fire Bartleby and not pay him, Bartleby responds "I prefer not to leave." The Boss is lazy and does what is easiest. He continues to let Bartleby stay put of pity and sloth and what he thinks is kindness.
The narrator doesn't throw Bartleby out because his politeness and passiveness is something that the narrator doesn't understand but he really wants to understand. He tries to figuire Bartleby out by letting him live in the office, continue working and he offers him extra money. Bartleby's passivity intrigues the narrator because he is left unkowing how to respond to Bartleby's refusal to work and doesn't understand his motives for refusal.The boss is sympathetic towards Bartleby because he is polite and passive, seems to live in his own world behind his screen and he has no home besides the office.
The narrator decides not to kick Bartleby out of the office for a couple reasons. Firstly, Bartleyby refuses to leave, and the Boss is not driven enough to do anything about it. He also reasons that since he does not move or bother anyone, he can stay. The Boss is very passive in nature and he doesn't have that heart to throw him out on the street. Up to this point, Bartleby's presance in the office did not effect anyone in a negetive way, but once he starts scaring away customers, the Boss decides that something needs to be done. He trys to give him some money and simply turn him away but he refuses to leave. Eventually he moves his office farther downtown to get away from the man who prefers not to do anything.
The Boss has much sympathy for Bartleby. He can see that there is something wrong with him. This is why he does not through Bartleby out like the other occupants. Even though Bartleby refuses to do the work, the Boss still pays him. The Boss wants to try to understand Bartleby. Why does he act the way he does? Why does he always tell the Boss that he would refer not to work? He becomes very fascinated with him. He wants so badly to figure him out. The Boss is sympathetic towards Bartleby. However, this sympathy seems to be a charity case. He does not really go out of his way to help Bartleby, but he does allow him to stay in the office. Hew also continues to pay him even though he does not do anything.
The narrator is described as an old man who always takes the easy way out of any situation. He does not expect Bartleby to become such a hassle. The first few times Bartleby tells the narrator that he "prefers not to" he some what dismisses it and hopes that it is just because Bartleby is getting used to his new job. When the narrator finally decides to move, he does not want to deal with Bartleby. So he just leaves him in the office. He figures that Bartleby has no where else to go. He is not sure why Bartleby is so different. Bartleby's passivity is kind of like "a taste of his own medicine" toward the narrator. Because the narrator is so passive, he dismisses Bartleby's passiveness. But then it begins to confuse the narrator and frustrate him.
The narrator does not immediately throw out Bartleby because he is intrigued by his actions of passive resistance and hopes to discover his motives. He finds it difficult to fight against Bartleby's resistance because although Bartleby refuses to work or comply with any of his boss' demands, he is very polite and does not cause any harm to the office. This combination of Bartleby's frustrating resistance and his polite demeanor have a profound effect on the narrator, which causes him to become curious about Bartleby's motives and sympathetic towards him. As described at the beginning of the story, the narrator is a man who often takes the path of least resistance, which would explain his allowance of Bartleby's behavior. The boss proves to be extremely accepting of different personalities, shown by the fact that he does not fire any of his other workers, even though they have odd and often troublesome personalities as well. By being open to these personalities and allowing them to find work in his office, the boss is able to feel good about himself.
The narrator, or the lawyer does not throw Bartleby out of the office because he feels sorry for Bartleby and pities him. The narrator feels that by helping Bartleby and by not throwing him out, he is doing good. Bartleby's ability to always say "i would perfer not to" makes the narrator confused as to what to do. The boss is sympathetic towards Bartleby because he didn't know anythihng about him. He didn't know his past, if he had any family or anything. Since he is not aware of anything, he does not let him go, keeping him around although he does not do anything.
I agree with gilette. Through the Boss' ability to tolerate different work ethics and personalities, he hopes to achieve a level of self worth and importance. Being kind to them helps him feel good. Since Bartleby is polite (and basically shows no emotion), the Boss finds it difficult to be angry and/or yell at him. You can't really yell at a person for being depressed and lazy when they express their feelings in such a proper yet cold way. I also think the Boss is amazed by Bartleby's succinct response of "I'd prefer not to". From that phrase, you can infer that the task at hand is not the speaker's preference, but if necessary they would do it. I do not think this is the case with Bartleby. The Boss could have easily been like "Oh too bad you are going to do this", but I doubt it would have any effect on Bartleby. I think a word more suitable for him to use would be "No" or (to keep the manners) "No thank you". On the other hand, maybe the Boss saw some hints of himself in Bartleby, since he did state that he usually took the "easy" way out of things. Maybe this nostalgia allowed him to feel sympathy for Bartleby. Maybe the Boss felt that he could have used a person to help him along, and that is what he wants to be for Bartleby.
I agree with prettyinpink's reasoning. Because the narrator is so passive, it makes him too laid back to throw Bartleby out. He does not have the heart or aggressiveness to. Also, another good point was that the narrator figured that if Bartleby did't hurt anyone than he could stay. Once Bartleby started scaring people away, he decided to move his office. His passiveness allowed him to leave Bartleby in the empty office alone and hope that he would either disappear or someone else would take care of him. In the end, Bartleby does not want to talk to the narrator. I feel that it is because he knows that the narrator only wanted to help him to get him out of the office or just because he felt bad for him.
nyletak and a few other make a good point that the boss, despite his seeming kindness, may really only be helping becaus he himself is too passive to do anything about it, or he may just be trying to feel good about himself and pat himself on the back. Finally, when B. becomes bad for business, he finds a way to be rid of him showing that materialism (the almighty dollar) is really the bottom line in any human interaction.
I agree with others in that the narrator pities Bartleby and is curious about him. However, I had never examined the fact that as soon as Bartleby became bad for business, the lawyer favors materialism and rids himself of Bartleby. This makes me think of the both the narrator and Bartleby in a different light. I begin to think that Bartleby's passive resistance may be towards society and materialism, which Bartleby refuses to conform to and the narrator adheres to. I think that the narrator's motives in letting Bartleby stay working in his office are deeper than simply pity.
I agree that the pity the Boss shows Bartleby is balanced with his passiveness. I looked over Bartleby being bad for business. I think that the Boss went for what would be easiest to keep making money since that overshadows his interactions with Bartleby. I also believe the mundane nature of the Boss' job kept Bartleby around for longer, since he was interesting.
I think everyone that has commented so far has had some great opinions and ideas based on the question. Its seems like we all agree that the Boss' attitude is what keeps Bartleby in the office for such a long time. If he was more agressive and less passive, Bartleby would have been forced out at a much sooner date, and in a way that would cause alot of comflict.
18 comments:
The Boss has grown amazed by Bartleby, and his reactions. The first time Bartleby denied a task by telling the Boss "I prefer not to", the Boss was too shocked to react, and instead assigned another worker to the task. The Boss became fascinated in Bartleby, and wanted desperately to figure him out. He did not get rid of him, but instead found pleasure in Bartlebys simple denials and strived to help him while also trying to figure him out. The reasons behind Bartlebys actions remained a mystery, and I think its part of the reason the Boss kept him around for as long as he did, because he had not figured him out yet, and strived to find out. The Boss was unsure how to act because he had never encountered a man such as Bartleby, and when he did, he was stunned. The Boss kept him around out of pity, and curiousity in his character and reasoning in his actions.
The Boss overtime becomes more thoughtful and curious of Bartleby's reasoning behind his insufficiency. The Boss is very apprehensive of what he should do with Bartleby. His conscience gets the better of him and makes him feel like a bad person if he decided to throw Bartelby out into the world jobless and homeless. Bartleby remained a mystery to the Boss, which inturn made the Boss want to always know more and keep him until this was solved.
The Boss doesn't throw out Bartleby because he pity's him. The later occupants most likely didn't give Bartleby a chance and they didn't see him as a diligent worker. His passsivity has such an effect on the Boss because the Boss has no explanation for it. The Boss is sympathetic to Bartleby because he feels like Bartleby is depressed. The Boss' passivity keeps him from being angry at the Boss. He also feels bad for Bartleby since he learns that Bartleby lives at the office and most likely has no where else to go.
I think that the narrator does not throw Bartleby out like every one else because he feels bad for him becuase he has no one and no where to go. He feels that by helping Bartleby it will be a work of charity or something. At the end when he finds out that Bartleby worked in the Dead Letters Office, I think the lawyer finally had some understanding of why Bartleby acted the way he did. When he worked there he had to burn the letters sent to loved ones that had died. He might have acted this way because he doesn't want to get close to anyone because he does now want them to leave him like all the people in the letters he burned. I think Bartleby's passivity has such an effect on the lawyer because he has never been told no before, and he wants to be able to help Bartleby and feel good about himself.
The Boss keeps Bartelby in the office out of pity. The other scrivers such as Turkey become angry at Bartleby for not doing his work. And when Bartleby decides not to do his job anymore, the boss still does not fire him. When the boss tells him to work and do his job he just responds with, "I prefer not to". The Boss is passive with Bartleby and feels good about himself for being kind to Bartleby though he does not work. Bartleby just sits in the office everyday and does not do anything, rather than work well part of the day and work poorly part of the day. When the Boss decides he might fire Bartleby and not pay him, Bartleby responds "I prefer not to leave." The Boss is lazy and does what is easiest. He continues to let Bartleby stay put of pity and sloth and what he thinks is kindness.
The narrator doesn't throw Bartleby out because his politeness and passiveness is something that the narrator doesn't understand but he really wants to understand. He tries to figuire Bartleby out by letting him live in the office, continue working and he offers him extra money. Bartleby's passivity intrigues the narrator because he is left unkowing how to respond to Bartleby's refusal to work and doesn't understand his motives for refusal.The boss is sympathetic towards Bartleby because he is polite and passive, seems to live in his own world behind his screen and he has no home besides the office.
The narrator decides not to kick Bartleby out of the office for a couple reasons. Firstly, Bartleyby refuses to leave, and the Boss is not driven enough to do anything about it. He also reasons that since he does not move or bother anyone, he can stay. The Boss is very passive in nature and he doesn't have that heart to throw him out on the street. Up to this point, Bartleby's presance in the office did not effect anyone in a negetive way, but once he starts scaring away customers, the Boss decides that something needs to be done. He trys to give him some money and simply turn him away but he refuses to leave. Eventually he moves his office farther downtown to get away from the man who prefers not to do anything.
The Boss has much sympathy for Bartleby. He can see that there is something wrong with him. This is why he does not through Bartleby out like the other occupants. Even though Bartleby refuses to do the work, the Boss still pays him. The Boss wants to try to understand Bartleby. Why does he act the way he does? Why does he always tell the Boss that he would refer not to work? He becomes very fascinated with him. He wants so badly to figure him out. The Boss is sympathetic towards Bartleby. However, this sympathy seems to be a charity case. He does not really go out of his way to help Bartleby, but he does allow him to stay in the office. Hew also continues to pay him even though he does not do anything.
The narrator is described as an old man who always takes the easy way out of any situation. He does not expect Bartleby to become such a hassle. The first few times Bartleby tells the narrator that he "prefers not to" he some what dismisses it and hopes that it is just because Bartleby is getting used to his new job. When the narrator finally decides to move, he does not want to deal with Bartleby. So he just leaves him in the office. He figures that Bartleby has no where else to go. He is not sure why Bartleby is so different. Bartleby's passivity is kind of like "a taste of his own medicine" toward the narrator. Because the narrator is so passive, he dismisses Bartleby's passiveness. But then it begins to confuse the narrator and frustrate him.
The narrator does not immediately throw out Bartleby because he is intrigued by his actions of passive resistance and hopes to discover his motives. He finds it difficult to fight against Bartleby's resistance because although Bartleby refuses to work or comply with any of his boss' demands, he is very polite and does not cause any harm to the office. This combination of Bartleby's frustrating resistance and his polite demeanor have a profound effect on the narrator, which causes him to become curious about Bartleby's motives and sympathetic towards him. As described at the beginning of the story, the narrator is a man who often takes the path of least resistance, which would explain his allowance of Bartleby's behavior. The boss proves to be extremely accepting of different personalities, shown by the fact that he does not fire any of his other workers, even though they have odd and often troublesome personalities as well. By being open to these personalities and allowing them to find work in his office, the boss is able to feel good about himself.
The narrator, or the lawyer does not throw Bartleby out of the office because he feels sorry for Bartleby and pities him. The narrator feels that by helping Bartleby and by not throwing him out, he is doing good. Bartleby's ability to always say "i would perfer not to" makes the narrator confused as to what to do. The boss is sympathetic towards Bartleby because he didn't know anythihng about him. He didn't know his past, if he had any family or anything. Since he is not aware of anything, he does not let him go, keeping him around although he does not do anything.
I agree with gilette. Through the Boss' ability to tolerate different work ethics and personalities, he hopes to achieve a level of self worth and importance. Being kind to them helps him feel good. Since Bartleby is polite (and basically shows no emotion), the Boss finds it difficult to be angry and/or yell at him. You can't really yell at a person for being depressed and lazy when they express their feelings in such a proper yet cold way. I also think the Boss is amazed by Bartleby's succinct response of "I'd prefer not to". From that phrase, you can infer that the task at hand is not the speaker's preference, but if necessary they would do it. I do not think this is the case with Bartleby. The Boss could have easily been like "Oh too bad you are going to do this", but I doubt it would have any effect on Bartleby. I think a word more suitable for him to use would be "No" or (to keep the manners) "No thank you". On the other hand, maybe the Boss saw some hints of himself in Bartleby, since he did state that he usually took the "easy" way out of things. Maybe this nostalgia allowed him to feel sympathy for Bartleby. Maybe the Boss felt that he could have used a person to help him along, and that is what he wants to be for Bartleby.
I agree with prettyinpink's reasoning. Because the narrator is so passive, it makes him too laid back to throw Bartleby out. He does not have the heart or aggressiveness to. Also, another good point was that the narrator figured that if Bartleby did't hurt anyone than he could stay. Once Bartleby started scaring people away, he decided to move his office. His passiveness allowed him to leave Bartleby in the empty office alone and hope that he would either disappear or someone else would take care of him. In the end, Bartleby does not want to talk to the narrator. I feel that it is because he knows that the narrator only wanted to help him to get him out of the office or just because he felt bad for him.
nyletak and a few other make a good point that the boss, despite his seeming kindness, may really only be helping becaus he himself is too passive to do anything about it, or he may just be trying to feel good about himself and pat himself on the back. Finally, when B. becomes bad for business, he finds a way to be rid of him showing that materialism (the almighty dollar) is really the bottom line in any human interaction.
I agree with others in that the narrator pities Bartleby and is curious about him. However, I had never examined the fact that as soon as Bartleby became bad for business, the lawyer favors materialism and rids himself of Bartleby. This makes me think of the both the narrator and Bartleby in a different light. I begin to think that Bartleby's passive resistance may be towards society and materialism, which Bartleby refuses to conform to and the narrator adheres to. I think that the narrator's motives in letting Bartleby stay working in his office are deeper than simply pity.
I agree that the pity the Boss shows Bartleby is balanced with his passiveness. I looked over Bartleby being bad for business. I think that the Boss went for what would be easiest to keep making money since that overshadows his interactions with Bartleby. I also believe the mundane nature of the Boss' job kept Bartleby around for longer, since he was interesting.
I think everyone that has commented so far has had some great opinions and ideas based on the question. Its seems like we all agree that the Boss' attitude is what keeps Bartleby in the office for such a long time. If he was more agressive and less passive, Bartleby would have been forced out at a much sooner date, and in a way that would cause alot of comflict.
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