Bartleby

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

"The report was this: that Bartleby had been a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letter Office at Washington, from which he had suddenly removed by a change in the administration" (Melville, 675)

At the conclusion of the story when Bartleby's past job was announced, I connected that Bartleby's job must of been the reason for his behavior at the law office. The author does not disclose any other information about Bartleby's past besides his job so obviously it has some significance. Sure some autistic disease could be it or that he was emotionally drained. Although all of that can be supported with other evidence, the author obviously included Bartleby's past job for a reason and not just to say it. Because of that, I believe that his job seems to describe his attitude and character at the law office. After burning mail that was initially intended for someone has to have some sort of effect on someone after a while. Bartleby obviously had a negative experience as he seemed to lessen his work as time went on. From his previous job, Bartleby must have been emotionally drained from realizing that letters he burned were important to that person at some point yet they did not have a chance to even receive them before they passed. Bartleby's unresponsive nature toward work seems to correlate with the unreceiveable letters that he burned. Likewise, I believe that Bartleby did not want to become emotionally attached to anyone or anything because like the letters that could have been filled with love or emotional messages, they can quickly be broken and burned. Such a job must have been depressing and put him into a state where he could not function emotionally like other people could.