Bartleby, the Scrivener

In Hermann Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener Melville tells the sad story of a man, Bartleby the scrivener of a lawyer, who slowly sinks into madness postponing everything he is asked with a I’d rather not. Every attempt to bring him back to reason is vain, irritation grows and when the lawyer wants to discharge him he says I'd rather not. Bartleby is alone in the world, he sleeps and lives in his office and the mercy of the lawyer is deep. Finally, however, Bartleby is sent away and imprisoned, he rejects the friendship of the lawyer and his food and he would rather starve. The narrator tries to understand Bartleby and his past…

Keywords: Bartleby, the Scrivener, Hermann Melville, Faligi