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Bartleby the Scrivener, A Tale of Wall Street

by Herman Melville

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Student Question

In Bartleby the Scrivener, how does the narrator save his law office from Bartleby?

Quick answer:

To save his law office from Bartleby, the narrator first attempts to coax him to leave and offers him money, which Bartleby refuses. Unwilling to have Bartleby jailed as a vagrant, the narrator ultimately decides to relocate his law office to a different building. He informs Bartleby of the move and warns him not to appear at the new location, intending to treat him as a trespasser if he does.

Expert Answers

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The narrator is a kind-hearted man, but he cannot get Bartleby to budge from his offices or do any work. He first tries to coax him to leave. He also tries to bribe him with money, but Bartleby always returns it. As the narrator puts it, "Bribes he leaves under your own paperweight on your table."

Since the narrator thinks it would be cruel and heartless to have Bartleby carted off to jail as a vagrant, which is the only other way he can think of to get rid of him, he decides to move his offices to another building. He gives Bartleby advance notice of what is happening so that Bartleby will have time to make other arrangements. He also determines that he will tell Bartleby that if Bartleby shows up in his new offices, he will have him treated as a trespasser. He says to Bartleby as he leaves that he hopes God will find some way to bless him, and he tries to give Bartleby some money, but Bartleby simply lets it drop to the floor. 

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