Bartleby Character Analysis

I sympathize with the narrator (lawyer) who had to endure with a troubled and stubborn employee that refused to do the bare minimum for the job he was hired to do. He exhibited a great deal of grace, patience, benevolence, and kindness, far beyond what we have grown accustomed to seeing from the corporate world. He tried to be an understanding employer when Bartleby refused to do work, offered him his own house for Bartleby to use, moved his business establishment to another building so not to evict Bartleby, and continued to visit Bartleby in prison and even offered him money for food.
Bartleby was an excellent employee when he first started on the job. He performed his duties diligently and he was able to quickly earn the admiration of his
employer. He was very productive and efficient employee, far more than the other two copyists, Nipper and Turkey that were employed by the firm. His performance was remarkable throughout the day, unlike Turkey, whose performance suffered as the day went by or Nipper, whose performance could be described as lackluster at best during the morning hour. Nipper and Turkey complemented each other, however. "Their fits relieved each other, like guards" (Melville 5).
However, shortly after a few days on the job, Bartleby’s extraordinary production came to a screeching halt and he his work was left undone. When the lawyer asked Bartleby to complete a task that he previously assigned to him, Bartleby calmly and with an utter indifference replied “I would prefer not to” (Melville 5). Many employers in the narrator’s position would have fired Bartleby on the spot for insubordination and refusal to perform their work duties.
The narrator; however, taken at first by the shocking response that he got from Bartleby, quickly tried to find an excuse to Bartleby’s behavior. This act of disobedience and refusal to do the work could be the result of work fatigue. He looked Bartleby in the eyes and saw they were glassy and fatigued. The narrator assumed that the weariness in Bartleby's eyes stemed from the "dim window['s]" lighting (Melville 17). Because of his good nature, he attributed Bartleby’s refusal to perform his work duties was due to the stressful and demanding nature of the job
itself.
Further, the lawyer’s benevolence was again on display when he found out, when stopped at the office coming from church on Sunday, that Bartleby was using the office as his primary residence.
He did not get frantic or tried to call the police to evict him, but rather he tried to help Bartleby by offering his home for Bartleby to come and stay with him till he finds another place to stay. Of course, Bartleby refused and the narrator’s patience and grace prompted him to accept the status que and not take any further actions to reclaim his office from this vagrant. Fearing for his reputation, the narrator elected to move his office to another building and leave Bartleby in the old building. When Bartleby got sent to prison, the narrator was kind enough to visit and check on him. He even one day while visiting left some money to the grub-man so he could look after Bartleby and make sure that he had something to eat. This only showed how caring and loving the narrator was. He did not need to do that, but because he cared he was willing to help a troubled
man.
The narrator was not only a caring and loving boss that tried to go above and beyond what any employer would do for their employees, he was an amazing human being that tried to lend a helping hand to a deeply troubled person. Despite how unappreciative Bartleby was, the narrator refused to stop trying to help Bartleby take hold of his life. The narrator was simply a divine human being!