The Role Of Bartleby In The Dead Letters Office

I think it’s interesting to ponder the cause behind Bartleby’s death. Melville doesn’t give a clear resolution, so we are left to draw our own conclusions. I believe that his death in prison is a mixture of two combining forces: Bartleby himself and society. Bartleby seems like the type of person who is naturally unsociable and introverted. However, I believe his time working as a clerk in the Dead Letters Office enhanced these attributes and ultimately led to his cadaverous emotionless ways. At the end of the story, the lawyer provides an interesting point regarding the effect that the Dead Letters Office could have on a person; especially on someone of Bartleby’s nature. “. Dead letters! does it not sound like dead men? Conceive a man by nature and misfortune prone to a pallid hopelessness, can any business seem more fitted to heighten it than that of continually handling these dead letters, and assorting them for the flames?” It seems to the lawyer that Bartleby’s previous position at a place with the word “dead” seemed fitting due to his lifeless personality. An office such as this can be a very depressing job; often individuals may leave with some sort of small emotional damage. Much like the lawyer, I believe this job heightened his
Throughout the story he never eats or drinks anything that the lawyer can see, except for a small portion of ginger nuts. It’s apparent that he is of poor health; he looks sickly and, as described by the lawyer, pallid and resembling a cadaver. His eating habits also continue on into prison, and he refuses to eat any meal that is provided. “‘I prefer not to dine to-day,’ said Bartleby, turning away. ‘It would disagree with me; I am unused to dinners.’” His refusal to eat results in dying of starvation. I believe that if he had a more regular diet he would’ve survived longer. But his unwillingness to live in ways that he didn’t “prefer” also contributed to his