rebellion? Why doesn't he quit and get a different job? Why does the Boss have sympathy for Bartleby? What else in the story seems open to individual readers' interpretation?
Bartleby always prefers not to because he cannot deal with the world anymore. He can't find a purpose in life because of his previous occupation, which was at a dead letters office. Bartleby's experience at his previous job caused him great depression and hopelessness. He saw the many letters that did not get to their recipients and these letters went straight to him at the dead letters office. Now Bartleby doesn't find any reason to obey the Boss because he feels that there really isn't a point in doing it. Since Bartleby is feeling hopeless, he comes very bored and stubborn. He becomes an introvert, not wanting anyone to come into his personal life. He doesn't want anyone to disturb him. This is the reason why he can't make friends or communicate. He keeps to himself so much that people just give up in trying to get something out of him.
Bartleby does not want to quit and get a different job most likely because he doesn't want to go through that change. Since he is losing hope in life, Bartleby feels that doing so will have absolutely no point. He feels that even if he does get a new job, he still won't be satisfied because he does not want to conform to the rules of that job. He does not like to conform because he believes that conforming is burdensome.
As I said in one of the previous blogs, the Boss feels sympathy for Bartleby because he sees that Bartleby is alone and depressed. It appears he has no family to help him. The Boss also finds out that Bartleby has been staying in his office overnight. This implies that Bartleby is homeless. That implication made the Boss assume that Bartleby was homeless. Another thing the Boss observes is that Bartleby barely eats anymore. When he visits Bartleby at the prison, he finds out that Bartleby has not been eating. He is starving himself. These are not the only things that are ambiguous to readers. The reader may be left wondering Bartleby doesn't accept the Boss' offer to live with him. That could have possibly been because of Bartleby's hopelessness in life. The reader may also be left wondering why the minor characters, such as Nippers or Turkey, actually do continue working. Sometimes I wonder if they actually do enjoy working at the law firm. One may never know.
Works Cited:
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