A Story of Wall Street

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

The subtitle of the short story seems to correlate with Bartleby and the narrator. Bartleby obviously seemed to serve as an example of what can happen to someone on Wall Street after time. As Bartleby slowly diminished while working, people on Wall Street must be similar to Bartleby. Likewise, the lawyer seems to find sympathy in Bartleby otherwise he would have fired him when Bartleby was responsive before. With no mention of his family or anything besides work, the lawyer must be another example of how Wall Street can ruin or effect someone directly.   The similarities between Bartleby and the lawyer also characterize the effects of Wall Street. Both are passive and okay with mediocracy. The lawyer does not seem to care that two of his employees are only sufficient half of the work day. Obviously he does not seem to care that they are not as productive as they could be. Likewise, Bartleby does not seem to pursue anything more than he is given or has. He is passive in his responses and does not care what his boss thinks of him when he says "I would prefer not to" (Melville, 654). Herman Melville obviously saw fault in the Wall Street system and wrote this to express his unhappiness on how the system must ruin people to their end like Bartleby.