Bartleby—A Law Student's Analysis

I agree with most of you that Bartleby seems to be some sort of projection of the narrator. But I also believe that Nippers and Turkey can be seen as projections of the narrator as well. I see the narrator as the type of lawyer that Eben would like us NOT to be. Nippers, with his chronic indigestion and irritability, and Turkey, with his alcoholism, are two of the things Eben has hinted at regarding common traits among Biglaw associates. The dynamic of them taking turns just to get through one day of work is emblematic of the struggle that many young associates have just making it through the day doing work that they would prefer not to do, but have to do just to make it to the next bonus check. They go between scarfing down the free seamlessweb food at their desks, to getting drunk at happy hour and firm events, all in an effort to reward themselves for the hours they have to put in.

The introduction of Bartleby to the office, especially when he begins his "I would prefer not to" phase, represents to me the moment that something clicks in the mind of an associate, and he finally realizes that he would really prefer not to do ANY of this work that is constantly being thrust at him. The problem is, however, that he doesn't leave the office; in fact, he lives there secretly. The narrator can't do anything to get rid of him, so he just lets him sit around and gets Nippers and Turkey to pick up his slack. This can be analogized to the associate working on auto-pilot, completing the work that is given without having his heart in it, but with Bartleby still in the back of his mind, not really wanting to do anything.

When the narrator ends up switching offices instead of getting rid of Bartleby, this may be compared to the associate switching to another firm, or even another department with the same firm. Instead of attacking the real problem - getting rid of the feeling of not wanting to do this work - the associate merely switches the location of his misery, but Bartleby doesn't go anywhere. He still stays in the same office and doesn't eat or sleep. The problem of unhappiness at work is still present.

I also believe that the "dead letter office" that Bartleby worked in before joining the narrator's office is symbolic of law school. A dead letter office is basically where undeliverable mail goes to die. This can be compared to what happens to many of us when we come to law school, in that the hopes, dreams, aspirations that we come in with are stifled and left unfulfilled. As the narrator hints, this prior occupation was the likely source of Bartleby's disposition.

Overall, I think the moral of this story is that we should try to get the Bartleby out of our "office" as soon as he appears.

-- JasonPyke - 28 Mar 2012