The People's History & the Cold War

[Michael Bailey]

alice wellintown wrote:
>> wait, not *mine* -
>
> Well, there are those seeds the birds drop, that bit of grass that
> springs within the prison, but I don't know why You think those leaves
> of grass will save you dear fellow.
>

"...no one was ever going to take the trouble to save You, old
fellow..." (GR, page 5)

...the reason I haven't been confronted with very much
Bartleby-confoundment is that in my personal practice I have yet to
acquire so much as a Nipper or a Turkey to copy and discuss my
works...(I'm what my employer's HR dep't describes as "an individual
contributor" - perhaps I am a Nipper or Turkey to one or more of my
superiours...)


Another thing the narrator might be expressing is a home truth to
businessmen: reluctantly or not, the tender heart must be flushed out
from one's dealings...
certainly Ayn Rand would cleave to that interpretation.

The fact that of all the supposedly interesting doings of scriveners
the lawyer/narrator has access to, he lingers longest over Bartleby's
and tells little to nothing of the rest, militates against ignoring
that reluctance, though

(I am cribbing heavily from
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/melvillestories/section1.rhtml)

This lawyer really did try, up to a point.