Critical Response "Bartleby, the Scrivener"

Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" is a story that can be perceived in several different ways. One person may see Bartleby as a hero due to his civil disobedience and the actions that he takes against the narrator. Another may take pity on Bartleby because they feel that he chooses to be detached from society or that he has given up in life. The persceptive that a person chooses usually relates back to their own life. Someone who thinks Bartleby is detached from society may feel that they too are detached from their society, whether it be by choice or not. In "Bartleby the Scrivener", the opinions and thoughts of Bartleby are never revealed, but only the narrators views are expressed to the reader. By only showing the thoughts and backround of the narrator, it is left up to the reader to make up their own mind about Barltbey. With this, Melville was able to generate a variety of different persceptives in "Bartleby the Scrivener" and allow his readers to connect to the story.