In Bartleby the Scrivener, the narrator seeks to find meaning in a minimally responsive employee who continues to repeat a single phrase. At the end, the narrator ends with the lines Ah, Bartleby! Ah Humanity!. In some ways this story offers an exploration of character.
Consider as well what happens with language in this story. Bartleby has come from the Dead Letter Office.
And now works in an office devoted to transcribing legal language, and nauseum.
What do you think the narrator means in these final lines?
What is being said about Bartleby and humanity in this story?
What is being said about Bartleby and humanity in this story?
