Bartleby And His Boss example essay topic

Bartleby the Scrivener is a story about a guy who responds to an ad for a job. Bartleby is hired to relieve stress on the company. He doesn't do any of his work and is about to get laid off. The owner for some reason can't fire him.

Bartleby is later put in jail and dies since he doesn't want to eat. Thanks to an elderly lawyer who hires Bartleby as a copying clerk will be in for a big surprise. The main reason why they hired him was to help with the stress. He is described as a pale and miserable looking man. Another reason why the lawyer hired him was to calm the hot tempers of the two other copyists. He has his own office, which is separated from the other two copyists.

His main job is to double-check a copy's faithfulness to the original. When his boss asked him to do a favor he simply replied "I would prefer not to". This story seems to be cut off from nature and all living things. The work environment is sterile and cheerless.

Bartleby seems dead since he doesn't move a lot. He has a special type of power to allow him to get away from doing things. Throughout the story the narrator receives lots of work. Everyone is helping out except for Bartleby. By this time he is frustrated and doesn't want to fire Bartleby. He also tries to reason with him in any way possible.

Halfway through the story they are describing him as a ghost. He is the type of employee that is the first on there in the morning and the last one to leave for the day. The narrator at different times wants to help Bartleby out but things aren't working out. Bartleby has slowly stopped working since he is refusing to do anything. He announces that he gives up copying.

His boss finally fires him giving him six days to leave. On top of that he also gives him money and tells him gently to leave. On a weekend he finds him still there at the office. It appears that he is staying there. That is when the owner gives in again allowing him to stay there. The lawyer is now worried that his reputation is being lost and moves his offices.

The old tenants from the old office come to talk to the old lawyer at his new offices. He advises him that Bartleby is still there and wants something to be done. He is later taken into jail since he doesn't leave the place. His boss pays the people at the jail to have him well fed. Bartleby refuses to eat anything at all. That is when he dies since he doesn't eat in jail.

We finally learn more about his past and where he worked. He worked at the Dead Letter Office where he got fired. At the end of the story is where the narrator expresses his sad tone as he tried to help Bartleby. In conclusion, we have learned so much about Bartleby and his boss. There is some type of power that he has that connects well with his boss.

The old lawyer tries to the best of his ability to help Bartleby as it comes up short. When he closes out the story he says, "Ah Bartleby! Ah, humanity!" which describes his faith in Bartleby.