The narrator of "Bartleby"

[Michael Bailey]

 Krafft, John M. wrote:
> Some of you seem to be giving the narrator of "Bartleby" a lot more slack
> than I do. He isn't sorry he lost his chance to do good in the world; he's
> angry that he lost a sinecure. Keeper of the king's conscience, indeed?
> Remember _Bleak House_? Isn't it more likely the narrator of "Bartleby" was
> getting richer by conniving at the robbing of widows and orphans? Don't get
> me wrong: I'm glad I don't have to figure out what to do about Bartleby. But
> what the narrator does is almost all wrong. Look at the rape of Bartleby's
> desk he rationalizes? Look at his smugness about his impoverished hirelings.
> Does he occasionally try to reach out to Bartleby? Maybe, but look at how he
> tries to buy him (and his own conscience) off, how he buttons himself up
> when he should open up, and how he runs away again and again. Remember when
> he tells Bartleby "Jail ought to be good enough for you"? Remember his
> regret that the lack of information about Bartleby is a great loss to
> _literature_? And the ending is all misdirection. if we bought it, It would
> let the narrator off the hook.
>
> John
>


well, there is that... (smile)