r. As the agent of punishment, the narrator is at this point stuck with making the decision to either sympathize with Bartleby, or lose his professional reputation. In a final attempt to clear his conscience, the lawyer proffers both alternate employment options, and temporary housing arrangements. Once again, all efforts on the part of the narrator to offer genuine help are rebuffed, and the narrator at last "proposes to remove his offices next week...." (Melville paragraph173) In this move he attempts to rid himself of the nuisance that Bartleby has become.The concluding stage in Bartleby's life begins when the character is shipped off to prison. When he is placed in confinement, Bartleby takes his former inactive life to the next extreme. Despite the extra care supplied by the narrator's money, Bartleby is found, starved to death, "strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones...." (Melville paragraph 245) While the narrator's restricted exertions could be viewed as a genuine effort to show compassion to Bartleby, as the narrator most likely assured himself, they were for the most part half hearted attempts offered, sadly, too late. Throughout the story, when Bartleby refuses to proofread his work, or merely stands for hours on end looking blankly at the brick wall, the narrator does nothing except seek statements from his other employees that Bartleby's behavior is neither normal, nor even tolerable. The narrator takes no effective action, but instead participates in a few wordy conversations and then moves his office in an effort to avoid the problem altogether.The interplay between the two main characters of Bartleby and the narrator serves to illustrate the point that one's individual responsibility to one's peers cannot be undertaken lightly or only when convenient. The three stages of Bartleby's peculiar behavior are matched by the narrator's var...
