Bartleby

Discussion Questions for "Bartleby, the Scrivener"

1. What does the subtitle of "Bartleby" suggest? What is the significance of Wall Street and the walls in the story? Don't overlook the contrasting images of white and black walls.
2. What is the significance of the information that the narrator provides about himself and his employees at the beginning of the story? How does it prepare us to understand Bartleby and the narrator's attitude toward him? In what ways in "B" really a story of the narrator?
3. Why does Melville tell the story from the point of view of the employer rather than of the office staff or of Bartleby himself? What effect does this narrative strategy have on the reader? If it draws you in emotionally, must you not consider at some point whether the story is mis-titled?
4. How reliable is the narrator? Are there any indications that he might be obtuse or unreliable? Give examples.
5. Which character, in fact, is the story's protagonist? Explain your answer.
6. Explain the function of the minor characters: Turkey, Nippers, Ginger Nut. Why do you think they are introduced to the reader before Bartleby is?
7. Describe Bartleby's physical characteristics. How does it foreshadow his final portrait? What incident unleashes Bartleby's passive resistance? What escalates it at each point? Isn't "passive resistance" an oxymoron?
8. What ethic does Melville implicitly oppose to the ethic of Wall Street? (This question leads into a discussion of the New Testament echoes running through the story.)
9. What are the stages of Bartleby's progressive withdrawal from the world? Can you make a connection between Bartleby's withdrawal and, say, that of Roderick Usher or other fictional character we've met?
10. How do you explain Bartleby's attitude towards the narrator at the Tombs? How do you explain the narrator's continued fascination with Bartleby? Why not just dismiss him?
11. Explain the last long paragraph of the story. Now explain the last four words. What is the significance of the postscript the narrator appends to the story? What psychological (or ideological) purpose does it serve for the narrator?
12. Part of what fascinates the reader (and possibly Melville himself) about Bartleby is his inscrutability. Describe the various "walls" Bartleby finds himself trapped behind and explore the ways in which the story's structure or design reinforces the reader's inability to penetrate the inscrutability of those walls.

Questions are not mine or belong to me, only are used to help others study.