Who Is Bartleby The Scrivener

In Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville, Bartleby is a law-copyist who works for a lawyer and whose job is to literally write something worth reading as they are legal documents. Bartleby is a very unusual character because he all of a sudden refuses to do any work. The lawyer relies on Bartleby to get his work done and becomes very frustrated when he refuses. Bartleby is told to leave the office many times if he is not going to do work. The lawyer finds out that Bartleby even sleeps in the office and offers Bartleby a place to stay He also suggests several new jobs for Bartleby, all of which he refuses. The lawyer becomes even more frustrated, so he moves to a new office. Bartleby stays in the old office and refuses to leave when the new tenant moves in. He confronts the lawyer about the strange man who refuses to do work, but the lawyer claims no responsibility for Bartleby. The man has Bartleby arrested and sent to prison. While in prison, Bartleby continues his series of refusals, eventually even refusing to eat. In the end, Bartleby dies of malnutrition.
Readers may question if Bartleby has some kind of mental problem that causes his work ethic to flip around. Many may also question whether the lawyer gives Bartleby a fair chance or if he treats Bartleby poorly.
Bartleby, the scrivener was written by Herman Melville in 1853-- Our country as a nation was only seventy-seven years old and on its way into captivating the world and leading it in economic and military terms. Having that said, it is very important to note that not many laws were enacted to protect employees from their employers and unions were just starting to rise. As a result many injustices at that time were perpetrated and committed at work, examples of child labor and exploitation are well documented from that time