Bartleby, the Scriviner - the Narrator as a Contraditory Person

There are many facts in this story that shows the narrator as a contradictory person, since he has most of the plot controlled by his own opinions; the story apparently is about Bartleby, but it tells more about the narrator than the title implies. His issue on facing confrontations and his lack of communication skills are evident by his treatment of his various employees.    

Within the first few paragraphs, readers have a very good sense of who the narrator is. Literally, readers learn that the narrator is “a rather elderly man” who is a lawyer on Wall Street, and consequently has been in the company of many scriveners (116). The narrator considers himself to be “unambitious” (116) and “safe” (116), he “…seldom losses [his] temper; [and] much more seldom indulge[s] in dangerous indignation at wrongs and outrages…” (117). However, readers also learn more than the supposed humble nature of the narrator. His language and grammatical constructions stand out to readers, suggesting a formality in the narrator’s character; his admiration for John Jacob Astor, which was a very rich man from the United States; there is a contradiction when he defines himself unambitious but admires someone that is the total opposite of who he is. There is also a hint of arrogance towards his lines, for example the importance he gives to the way his employees look “Whereas with respect to Turkey, I had much ado to keep him from being a reproach to me. His clothes were apt to look oily and smell of eating-houses.”(p.5) and he still never approached Turkey directly to discuss the issue, but chose a way more passive-aggressive method, when he preferred to give Turkey one of his own coats “One winter day I presented Turkey with a highly-respectable looking coat of my own, a padded gray coat, of a most comfortable warmth, and which buttoned straight up from the knee to the neck.”(p.5)

However, some critics have different feelings about the lawyer, as he being a sensitive and tolerant person; Craver and Plante share this opinion, put it best when they state:

A man who gives his own coat to Turkey; a man who allows the political Nippers to receive his seedy "clients"; a man who maintains a dignified manner when a moistened ginger-cake is clapped on to one of his mortgages for a seal; such a man has recognized and accepted with compassion the fact of human interdependency long before Bartleby steps into his office (133).

Although this is a possible interpretation, I believe that it reveals more about his lack of confrontation skills than his kindness. The lawyer puts up with his two employees bad behavior, Turkey and Nippers, apparently because he cannot be bothered to fire or replace them; “When Nippers’ was on, Turkey’s was off; and vice versa. This was a good natural arrangement under the circumstances.” (p.5).  The Narrator seems to back off from every confrontation and rationalize it in the most absurd way, showing his unawareness of his own weakness in this area. When Bartleby first refuses to perform a current activity employee had in the chambers, instead of acting like the boss and making a stand for himself, he starts to reason with Bartleby, as it’s shown on this extract from Melville’s Bartleby (page 9):