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For decades, literary critics have argued over how to interpret Bartleby. At first glance, he seems to have little or no character to speak of: he arrives at the offices of the Lawyer, is hired to do some copying, then begins to respond to any request made of him with “I would prefer not to.” This reply becomes a mantra, and the politely cold yet firm way Bartleby says it prevents the Lawyer from taking any real action against him. Time and again, the Lawyer is stymied by Bartleby's simple phrase: “I would prefer not to.” The term prefer begins to infect the Lawyer's speech, his mind, and even the other employees in the Lawyer’s office.
But who is Bartleby? What does he represent? It is impossible to fully answer either of these questions because Bartleby’s curious and apathetic behavior renders him uniquely difficult to interpret. One way to look at Bartleby is to view him as the Lawyer’s double or narrative foil. A foil is a character who contrasts with another character, typically the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist. At the start of the story, the Lawyer characterizes himself as a “safe man” who believes that the “easiest way of life” is the most successful and the most ideal. Bartleby, with his apathy and his rejection of the business world, represents the exact opposite. As Meville scholar George Rishmawi writes, “[Bartleby’s] will, his individuality, his theory of preferences are all the opposite of the lawyer's easy safe life.” It’s possible Melville characterized Bartleby as the Lawyer’s foil in order to comment on American capitalism because Bartleby challenges the Lawyer's belief system which is based on business efficiency and commercialism. It’s also possible the last few lines are the key—that working in such a miserable job as the Dead Letter office, and to have lost his job after an administrative shake-up, may have caused Bartleby's ennui and his descent into seeming insanity.
On the other hand, many critics have bypassed interpreting Bartleby as a universal symbol in favor of looking at him in the context of Melville's life. Some critics think Bartleby represents Melville himself: at this time of his life, Melville's most recent works, including 1850 novel White Jacket and the 1851 novel Moby Dick 1851, had failed miserably, despite the fact that they would achieve acclaim later on. At that time, his readers wanted more adventure, like the adventure in his earlier works such as Typee. Some critics think that, therefore, the Lawyer represents Melville's readers, asking Melville to write the same old fiction that he had been writing all along. Bartleby, therefore, represents Melville himself, replying that he would "prefer not to" and eventually withdrawing into himself and his misery. This semi-autobiographical interpretation offers yet another way to read the text.
