In my Hum102 class, I read the short story Bartleby: The Scrivener by Herman Melville. In the story, Bartleby was a new scrivener hired by a Manhattan lawyer. Bartleby produced the large volume of high-quality of work compared to the other two scriveners. The lawyer was very impressed by his work because he was a reliable worker. However, one day, the lawyer asked Bartleby to proofread a document, Bartleby responded with the famous words, “I prefer not to”. Soon enough, every time Bartleby was asked to do a job, he responded with the words, “I prefer not to”. So, to the dismay of everyone, Bartleby finished fewer and fewer work until he did no work, but stared at a brick wall just outside the office’s window. Eventually, Bartleby stopped eating and died of starvation. The lawyer did intervene and asked Bartleby if anything happened to his family or to him, but Bartleby did not respond.
One question I have is: why did Bartleby just stop working and show passive resistance by saying “I prefer not to”? If you were the lawyer how would you handle the situation of Bartley? (Hint: Use what we learned in class about motivation)
Personally, I don’t know the personal reason why Bartleby chose to not do work but as said he exercised passive resistance and declared his individual power. With the story he is basically saying no to do work that he was hired to do. He was a great worker until he decides to refuse to work. He uses the notable “I prefer not to work” which presents a gentle and polite response.
However, it could be said that since Bartleby prefers to not adapt to change and would prefer a “stationary” life where things stayed the same. This could be attributed to his refusal to do work since he prefers to make copies and similar things but would prefer to not compare which means that he would have to argue and work with someone.
If I was working with Bartleby, I would simply ask him why he wouldn’t do work. If his answers are unsatisfactory, I would explain to him why it is important for him to do the work and it is the reason why he was hired. If nothing changes, then I would have no choice but to let him go but it does not mean that we cannot be friends and talk on a personal level.
