Bartleby by Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Melville's short story “Bartleby the Scrivener” introduces us to many interesting characters with many different personalities. However, between Ginger Nut, Turkey, Nippers and the Old Man who tells the story, the one most mysterious to us is Bartleby. Bartleby is a scribe who, in simple terms, is a human version of a modern photocopier. He does his job very well, almost never stops and gets things done quickly and efficiently. However he is a man of few words. In fact, he's a man with one sentence: "I'd rather not." He says this in response to anything asked of him other than copying documents. In fact he outright refuses to do anything else his boss (the narrator) asks him to do. This is the first step in confusing the reader about Bartleby. Melville, however, never seems to offer an answer to this mystery. Another interesting thing I noticed was that Bartleby never said “I won't”, but “I'd rather not”. This would indicate that the person he is talking to has an option as to what Bartleby will or will not do, but it is said in such a way as to manage to confuse the narrator's feelings and cause him, for a long period of time, to simply accept the statement like a “no”. This strikes me as a weakness of the narrator as an entrepreneur, but at the same time it makes me wonder what Bartleby's purpose is in responding in this way. Another interesting feature of Bartleby is his lifestyle habits, which we will find out about later in the story. He apparently lives in the office (originally unbeknownst to the narrator). He sleeps, washes and works in the same place. What makes this even more interesting is that he refuses (or says he would “rather not”) change his living conditions. When the narrator moves his business and Bartleby refuses to vacate the premises after the new tenant arrives, the narrator is held responsible for Bartleby, simply because he is the only person who even comes close to knowing him. After a long trial that ends with Bartleby in prison, which the narrator apparently regards as the reason for his presence there, the story quickly closes with Bartleby's disappearance and death, and the strange introduction of the "grub man" (who seems be although it has a deeper importance in the story that I can't place).