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25, 2005
Custom's House vs. Bartleby's workplace
When comparing these two working environments, it's pretty easy to see that they share many common traits. For instance, both pieces of literature are told through a narrator that is presumable the boss of the place and has been there for years. The workers in the offices are also similar: the customs house employed workers who had been there for years and were held there by financial reasons. The office where Bartleby worked employed men who had been there a while and all similarly enjoyed their job.
The custom's house and Bartleby's workplace both exhibited a working-class man's job in the respective time periods.
Onto another note...
Just some little things to think about...
"I would prefer not to."
Bartleby always says prefer, and his boss and coworkers catch themselves starting to say it after a while, too.
Let's look at the actual meaning of prefer:
Main Entry: preˇfer
Pronunciation: pri-'f&r
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): preˇferred; preˇferˇring
Etymology: Middle English preferren, from Middle French preferer, from Latin praeferre to put before, prefer, from prae- + ferre to carry -- more at BEAR
1 : to promote or advance to a rank or position
2 : to like better or best
3 : to give (a creditor) priority
4 archaic : to put or set forward or before someone : RECOMMEND
5 : to bring or lay against someone
6 : to bring forward or lay before one for consideration
- preˇferˇrer noun
This all seems a little confusing, so let's look at alternate word choices:
Entry Word: prefer
Function: verb
Text: 1 to show partiality toward
Synonyms favor, lean (toward), like
Related Words adore, cotton (to), delight (in), dig, enjoy, fancy, groove (on), relish, revel (in); choose, cull, handpick, name, pick, select, single (out), take; covet, crave, desire, want, wish (for); bias, prejudice; incline (towards), tend (to); admire, appreciate, cherish, prize, treasure, value
Phrases be partial to
Near Antonyms disfavor, dislike; abhor, abominate, detest, hate, loathe; decline, refuse, reject, turn down; discard, jettison, throw away, throw out
2 to decide to accept (someone or something) from a group of possibilities
Soooo...now all that said, why would Bartleby PREFER not to do somethings?
Also, I thought that possibly there could be some hidden meaning in Bartleby's name, so I looked it up. Now, the site I chose is not well known and could possibly be false in every aspect, but my findings are sort of interesting...
I found a site that says that Bartleby means "energetic and courageous you stand up for your beliefs and for what you desire. You are independent, strong willed and fiercely competitive when needed although your ambition is tempered with patience. You maintain a positive attitude and with a more organised or practical approach to life material success is very likely. Your immensely loving and generous nature brings joy into peoples lives and ensures your happiness."
hmmmm....lemme know what you think.
Posted by LaurenEtling at 25, 2005 03:25
Comments
Yes, Lauren, I agree how the working environments seemed to appropriately depict the time era of the work-place. For example, like Wall Street where working places were developing during the time period of Melville's story.
Posted by: Ashley Holtzer at 26, 2005 12:51
true, ashley, but i also think that you have to look at the specific working environment. the contained space in which bartleby worked had more to do with the story than the time period in which it was set. look at the story more from the view of the specific workplace, not wall street as a whole.
Posted by: LaurenEtling at 26, 2005 11:54
Lauren,
As much as I admire Bartleby's simple rebellious points of view, the fact is that JOBS needed to get done. When a boss asks you to do something, you do it, or you get fired. He had a particular desire to not do something? That really sounds awkward doesn't it? I don't know, as much as I admired Bartleby in the beginning of the text, I really dispised him as a character in the end.
Posted by: Jason Pugh at 27, 2005 03:21
i guess you're right jay, but the biss didn't really make any moves to fire bartleby. it's almost as if he was giving him options all the time. the boss needed to be more straight forward with bartleby and stand up for himself, and his business. i think they are both to blame for the situation.
Posted by: LaurenEtling at 27, 2005 05:27
I feel bad for the lawyer. All he wanted was a few good employees, and instead he got a bunch of psychos!
Heh, but seriously, I have to disagree with that name description you found. THIS Bartleby was not by any means a happy and generous person. He was rather annoying, and yet, captivating? What about this man kept the lawyer from calling the police on him, as those who took the office after him did?
Posted by: Valerie Masciarelli at 27, 2005 05:35
Lauren, I can see that you've put a lot into this entry, and it's clear that you and your peers are getting a lot out of it. Good job.
What is the site where you looked up the name Bartleby? It's good that you are presenting the information with caution, but it would be even more helpful if you let your readers see the source for themselves.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at 27, 2005 01:22
I like that his name means almost the opposite of everything he represents to others in the workplace. Like the old cliche goes, "attitudes are contagious," his ended up to not be worth catching.
Posted by: Erin at 28, 2005 02:39
I think that the Custom's House in the Scarlet Letter and the office that Bartleby works in are very much the same. I did have to agree with Jay's comment about the fact that in the beginning of the story I really liked the character of Bartleby, but by the end of the story he really annoyed me. The fact that he could say, "I would prefer not to," and he still got away with it really made me mad.
Posted by: Stacy at 29, 2005 01:10
http://www.bostonuk.com/names/names.asp?Name=bartleby
This is the site where i got the information on the meaning of Bartleby's name. Sorry i didn't put it in the post earlier!
Posted by: LaurenEtling at 29, 2005 12:34