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Herman Melville, "Bartleby, the Scrivener"

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Re-Reading Questions

Web Study Text prepared by Ann Woodlief

Text on p. 164 of the full Ninth Edition.

Re-Reading Questions

1. Explore "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by reading through the Web study text. Pick out several questions or comments to consider.

2. Repetition is important in any work of literature. In this story, of course, Bartleby's repeated line is a highlight, and it has been marked in the study text. Each line is provoked by a particular interchange with the lawyer/narrator and then is followed by the lawyer's emotional reaction. Look for the two developing patterns as you read through these surrounding passages to understand the development of Bartleby's intransigence and the lawyer's emotional state. What role does the concept of "preference" play in these two developing themes? Is there any point where you think there could have been a breakthrough in this verbal wall?

3. One important feature of the study text is its focus on the lawyer/narrator. Most readers pay little attention to him, focusing more on the enigmatic Bartleby (as the lawyer does) in the first reading. Yet this is as much a story about the narrator as about Bartleby, perhaps even more so. Consider the effect of having the story told from his perspective rather than Bartleby's or one of the other employees—or even a more objective or omniscient outside narrator. What sort of a person is the narrator? Can the reader trust him to be objective and/or reliable, or does he seem to have something to gain by telling the story "his" way?

4. Re-read the postscript at the ending of the story. Does this explain Bartleby's behavior? How does it explain the narrator's understanding of Bartleby? Do you think that the narrator has changed in any way, positively or negatively, because of his encounter with Bartleby? How do you read his final sigh, "Ah Bartleby! Ah, humanity!"?

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