The Significance of Confusion in "Bartleby the Scrivener"

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"Bartleby the Scrivener" presents the reader with confusion throughout the story but it is a "pleasurable and disquietude" story and entertaining until the end (Prompt.) Bartleby is repetitive on refusing to complete activities; the reader might wonder, "why not just agree, and do the activity one has requested to be completed?" Thus, the reader becomes confused. However, this is not the only thing that confuses the reader; Bartleby's bizarre behaviors confuse the reader, yet draw the reader into the story more. These behaviors lead to unhealthy relationships and even unhealthy diets; both build up to the ending of the story- Bartlyby's death. Bartleby expresses the passion of not wanting to complete a duty by stating, "I prefer not to"(Melville 155.) This conveys the obviousness of Bartleby's utter rudeness, while, he still remains respectful to his fellow employees and employer. This repetitive statement encourages the reader to pursue an investigation of why Bartleby refuses to complete duties assigned to him; thus, the reader must read on, to break their confusion. It also indicates that Bartleby has no ambition: The narrator, Bartleby's employer, constantly request Bartleby to complete an assignment, Bartleby declines with his favorite statement, "I prefer not to," each time the narrator requests Bartleby to complete a task (Melville 155.) One can infer that Bartleby is unconcerned with his job and the requests made of him are of less concern. Instead, Bartleby is simply there to be present and nothing more. Bartleby no longer completes duties and sits in his excluded office area, by himself, all day, staring out of a dirty window. If one is interested in his job, they will complete the jobs required task diligently, to prov... ... middle of paper ... ... narrator away; although, the narrator is trying to learn about Bartleby and why the Bartleby acts the way he does. This push causes the narrator to become frustrated with Bartleby and soon the narrator no longer wishes to learn about Bartleby or have anything to do with Bartleby; thus, the narrator decides to rid of Bartleby's presence in the office. However, this does not sit well with Bartleby and Bartleby refuses to leave. Thus, the narrator must move the office to a new location. Unfortunately, Bartleby is arrested and death soon consumes Bartleby. The relationship of the narrator and Bartleby is strained and one might wonder why Bartleby just did not try to communicate with the narrator. Depression crept up on Bartleby, took control, and took Bartleby away. Anyone that has a relationship with Bartleby is no longer important and the relationship soon diminishes

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