At first glance, Herman Melville's "Bartelby, the Scrivener" seems like a simple story telling of how hopelessness and despair can destroy a man. There are many more elements that make this story a classic, however. One of the main aspects Melville uses is the first-person narrative. We get a perspective on the events of the story, and even feel the emotions and personality of the narrator, a lawyer who is never named. When we take a closer look at the characteristics of this man, we see that he actually takes on many roles. He acts as a personal friend to his employees, surprisingly because he is supposed to be their superior. He seems indecisive and easily swayed, unable to establish himself as an authority in his own law office. The narrator even acts as a paternal figure to his most uncooperative worker, Bartelby. Although in the beginning of this short story we hear the opinions of a so-called prudent and careful man, we can't help but think as the story progresses how this man made it to such a high-ranking position by being a pushover.
             Any good boss knows that in order to run a successful business, his employees
             must be content. He occasionally engages in conversations with his workers, but there is a certain point where a line must be drawn, a line where personal relationships must not continue. The narrator in "Bartelby", in this case, is not the typical boss. In the beginning of the story, he introduces us to his three clerks. He describes them in such a way that only one that was well acquainted with them would be able to do. First of all, he has given them all nicknames, Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut. In the following passages, the narrator even tells us of how he tolerates attitude and irritability from two of his employees. "I took upon me, one Saturday noon ([Turkey] was always worse on Saturdays), to hint to him, very kindly, that perhaps now h...