Herman Melvilles Bartleby The Scrivener (reprinted In

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Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" (reprinted in
Laurence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp, Literature: Structure, Sound,
and Sense, 6th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1993] 456-84) has
characters that are very interesting to the intuitive reader. One
character in particular is the narrator who seems to change though
the story.
The narrator is an interesting man who is difficult to
completely understand. The narrator's thoughts seem unclear even to
himself. The narrator seems to have a sincere wish to help Bartleby
in whatever way he can. His sincerity, though, is questionable.
Every time the narrator tries to assist Bartleby, he seems to do it
only to gratify himself. After the narrator informs Bartleby that
the office must be vacated, he says to himself, "As I walked home
in a pensive mood, my vanity got the better of my pity."(473) The
narrator is glad to have gotten rid of Bartleby, but only it seems,
because he gave Bartleby money. This quasi-sincerity does seem to
take a turn, however, towards the end of the story. After all the
trivial attempts to help Bartleby, the narrator seems to have an
instant of true feeling for Bartleby. After moving, and being rid
of Bartleby, someone comes to him on Bartleby's behalf. The
narrator goes to the prison to check on Bartleby only because he
cares and knows that nobody else does. He knows that if he does not
check on Bartleby's well-being, no one will. This shows that he is
truly beginning to care.
This man, the narrator, is also a very weak willed man. He
seems to put up with nearly everything. He tolerates the tempers of
both Turkey and Nippers day after day. Both these men appear to be
alcoholics, as for instance, when Turkey returns from lunch he is
not able to write without blotting the paper. When the narrator
suggests that one of the scriveners work only half a day, he
refuses. And so, the narrator allows the behavior to continue.
Also, when Bartleby first starts work, the narrator says that he
placed him behind a s

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