Bad Bosses Aspect

Throughout history, the concept of “Bad Bosses” has been displayed in various types of literature. These various types of literature range from plays, to poems, and even short stories. Although the literature stated above may be different types, they all have potential to share the same aspect. The aspect that is similar to all the literary works we have reviewed over the course of the semester was bad bosses and how bad bosses have changed for the better or for the worst as time progressed.

One of the literary works that would best implement the aspect of bad bosses would be Bartleby the Scrivener, the short story by Herman Melville. In “Bartleby the Scrivener,” the narrator in this story symbolized the “bad boss”. His occupation is of a lawyer who maintains his wealth by helping wealthy men deal with mortgages, title deeds, and bonds. In need of another scrivener, which is a professional or public copyist or writer the lawyer hires Bartleby. Bartleby is a quiet, initially efficient, anti-social man. Bartleby, to the lawyer, doesn’t seem to have any other ambitions rather than being a scrivener for him. All of that starts to change when Bartleby begins to not want to do some of the tasks the lawyer asks him to do. The first instance of this is when he is asked to proofread one of the copies he just completed, “…rapidly stating what it was I wanted him to do – namely, to examine a small paper with me…Bartleby, in very firm voice, replied, “I would prefer not to.”(Melville 17).

The example stated above can be related to the aspect of “bad bosses” in many ways, one of which is the lawyers’ inability to fire Bartleby when he begins nonchalantly preferring not do the job he was hired for. The symbolic boss in this particular story ...

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...mates, half of all managers fall into that category. But what exactly is it that makes this scourge of the workplace so harmful? As it turns out, it's in their nature. However in the literary works discussed the bad bosses were all “bad” in their own ways. In Bartleby the Scrivener the “boss” failed to fire Bartleby after his lack of performance, which could be argued as not being a responsible boss. In the literary work “the mother”, the boss was the woman having the abortions and explaining how although she made her decision she still lives and hurts from the decision. Although she was overall her own boss, her inability to provide for her kids and choosing to have an abortion can arguably make her a “bad boss”. In the play trifles the sheriff and his inability to see Mrs. Wright for anything more than a “wife” –shows that he is not a bad boss and lack vision.