Who is Harriet Jacob?

*was a child born into slavery

*born under the ownership of a kind mistress

*was 12 when mistress died and was transferred to the ownership of Dr. Norcom

*this man was cruel

*he wanted to destroy the strong will she had

*had enough of her master and tried to escape

*hid in a tiny crawlspace where she could watch her children

*sailed to Philadelphia and then went to New York

*reunited with her daughter

*became involved with abolitionists to stop slavery

Symbol

What do the "dead walls" and Bartleby's "dead wall reveries" represent?
What's the significance of the setting? Why is it a story of "Wall Street"?
Why do Turkey and Nipper have nicknames, but the Boss is never named, and we never learn Bartleby's first name? What's in a name?

The dead walls represent the dead emotions that Bartleby feels and the dead emotions that run in life. The setting gives us a better understanding of what Bartleby went through. It takes place in "Wall Street" because life around their is also emotionless. People don't care for others. All they care about is the money. People are nothing. Turkey and Nippers have nicknames because they are not that major in the story. Boss' name is probably kept secret so we are kept in suspense. Bartleby's last name is never said probably for the same reason. A name is your identification. It is you and it defines you. Without a name you are just another person on the planet with no significance. With a name you have identity.

Paradox

Bartleby is stubborn, self-absorbed, rebellious, and insubordinate, yet many readers, and even the narrator, the Boss himself, have a deep sympathy for him. Why?
Others?

Bartleby may be stubborn, rebellious, etc but he has his reason. In his life as a dead mail worker he was always shrouded in sadness. He saw all the mail that was sent back to him. He even saw a love letter sent back. Those things must have broken his heart. He was exposed to so much of that sadness that it consumed him. His heart became so empty because that was all he saw in those letter. It is that fact that made Boss, the readers, and the other characters sympathize him.

Ambiguity

Exactly why does Bartleby always "prefer not to"? Why can't he make friends, or communicate? What's at the heart of his rebellion? Why doesn't he quit and get a different job?
Why does the Boss have sympathy for Bartleby?
What else in the story seems open to individual readers' interpretation?

Bartleby refuses not to because he has lost all motivation and emotion to do anything. It is the only thing he says in the entire story. When people try to talk to him or get him to do something, it's always the same line. The thing that ticks off the people the most is that he cannot give a reason as to why he keeps saying he prefers not to. His heart is at rebellion because since he used to work at a dead mail place his heart became broken. He was so heartbroken with all the dead mail he received that he gave up on life. He probably does not want a different job because he might feel that loss of emotion again. The Boss holds a lot of sympathy for him because he understands. I believe he understood how Bartleby felt and it allowed him to feel sympathy towards him.

Irony

The Boss doesn't recognize that his own passiveness is as persistent and frustrating as Bartleby's. Or that his genteel, self-interested interest in Bartleby is leading to no good.
Can you think of other ironies?

One other irony i can remember is that Boss is tired of Bartleby's repeated phrase. He ends up leaving his original office in search for a new one. The irony is that he cant get rid of Bartleby. Even after he leaves the office, the people complain to him that Bartlebby has not left. The are holding Boss responsible since he is the last one who employed Bartleby.

Plot Exposition

what background information does the narrator relate that gives us a greater understanding of the events unfolding? Why does the information about Bartleby's previous employment come at the end of the story rather than at the beginning?
Complication-how does the Boss react when Bartleby repeatedly refuses to perform his duties? How does his reaction intensify? What is the Boss's dilemma?
Climax-Where do you feel the events reach their pinnacle? Where is the conflict most intense, the clash most "explosive"?
Resolution-What's the outcome of the explosion? 
Epiphany-who has gained insight in this story, Bartleby or the Boss, or anybody?

The narrator gives us the information that Bartleby used to work in the dead mail part of a post office. This is revealed at the end of the story because the narrator wants to give us some suspense about Bartleby's life. We don't know much about him but eventually we learn and we are forced to guess until the end. When Bartleby keeps refusing Boss' commands, he starts losing his patience. He tries to be nice to Bartleby but it starts to wear thin. He cannot get rid of Bartleby no matter what he does. The most explosive part is when Boss finds out that Bartleby is in jail after not leaving the office which he abandoned. Boss is the one who has gained insight. He understood Bartleby and pitied him.

Meaning (Theme)


Does the story leave you thinking anything? Feeling anything? What do you make out of it all?
Passive aggressive people are difficult to accommodate, difficult to ignore.
Passive resistance is a radical form of rebellion. 
Offices, where Americans spend the greater part of their lives, are not democracies.
Have a life outside work! Don't expect your occupation to bear the burden of your existence.
What other ideas does the story suggest to you?

After reading this story, it made me think about a few things. The first thing that came to my mind was what if i met someone who did the same thing? Another thing that i thought about was how i would handle the situation. I felt a few emotions reading this to. The first emotion i felt was annoyance. I got annoyed at Bartleby's line. Then i felt sympathy when i found out why Bartleby was acting the way he did. He felt hurt, it was understandable. When i found out he died i pitied him because no one really understood him. A bit of sadness followed. All i can say is that Bartleby is not a bad person. He just wanted someone who could understand him. He needed someone who could cheer him up and see the positive things in life. The only problem is that Bartleby just didn't want to cooperate. If anything, he should have talked to the Boss about how he felt. The boss looked like he was a person that could understand him. Maybe they could have even been friends. Either way it was worth a shot.

Point of View

Who tells the story? - the first person narrator, who is flawed but human…He's reliable, we trust him. His actions definitely support what he tells us about himself; especially the part about being a man who likes to take the "easy" way. What else is gained by telling this story from the Boss's perspective? Why not Bartleby's perspective? Why not one of the other clerks?

This story is told through the Boss' eyes. He is telling this in first person. It is more beneficial to hear the story from the Boss' perspective because he explains the story with such elaborate detail. Not only is the story explained in detail but it has a positive air around it. There are parts of the story that indeed are not positive but during other times its told in a more upbeat tone. If it was told from Bartleby's perspective, the whole story would have been a pain to read. It would be filled with so many negative views and the story would be so dull. There would be no life to it at all. If it was told from the other clerks point of view, The story would not be complete. They were not present during the entire story so a lot of important details would be missing. There is also the fact that the clerks don't know a single thing about Bartleby.

Characters

what is the Boss up against in the person of Bartleby? Does Bartleby represent a force beyond
himself as an individual?
Major / Minor (Who are the major players in the story? What do we know about them? Are they likable? Sympathetic? Realistic? What's the function of the story's minor characters?)
Dynamic / Static-Who changes? Who stays the same? Is the story about growth or change? 
Round / Flat-Who is the round character? Who are the flat characters?

The boss is up against someone who is disobedient of his commands in the person of Bartleby. Bartleby represents a force beyond himself as an individual. He represents an obstacle in someone's way. He is an obstacle that the boss is forced to overcome. The major characters in this story are Bartleby and the Boss. We know the boss is well... the boss of a printing company and he is very likeable because he has manners. He is also sympathetic of Bartleby to a point. Bartleby i found to be unlikeable. He does nothing at all and his phrase is so annoying. He doesn't even give a reason why. All he says is "I prefer not to". He is the only character who doesn't change in the story. He stays the same. Boss changes from a very tolerant man to one who now needs to claim more authority. This story is all about these changes.