Bartleby the Scrivener

NARRATOR

The narrator is a character in his own right; in fact, this story tells as much about him as it does about Bartleby. What do we learn about him in the first few paragraphs? What does his language (including the use of terms like "imprimis" and constructions like "not insensible" and "hath") tell us about him?

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The Narrator is an elderly man, and an "eminently safe" one. He makes his living helping rich men deal with their legal documents, and he is convinced that the easiest path is always the best one. Bartleby exerts a strange power over him: the narrator is simultaneously repulsed and moved to pity, and he is powerless to compel Bartleby to do anything. Through Bartleby, the narrator sees his world and the human condition in a new and unsettling way.

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