- description
- # Escalation of Idleness and Dismissal Attempt
## Overview
This section, titled "Escalation of Idleness and Dismissal Attempt," is a segment of the chapter "Bartleby." It is part of the larger collection "[Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW)" and was extracted from the file "[the_piazza_tales.txt](arke:01KG89J1F4D8P9BBX9AMGZ7TX7)". The section details the narrator's growing frustration with Bartleby's increasing idleness and the narrator's contemplation of how to dismiss him.
## Context
This section is situated within the narrative of Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby." It follows the section "[Bartleby's Refusal to Write](arke:01KG8AK413D9TACK8K0TW42TTH)" and precedes "[Final Dismissal and Departure](arke:01KG8AK419VG3PDA1PZZFDBDN6)". The narrator grapples with Bartleby's passive resistance, describing him as a "millstone" and expressing concern for his isolation, while simultaneously being burdened by his inaction.
## Contents
The text within this section focuses on the narrator's internal conflict regarding Bartleby's refusal to perform any work and his subsequent immobility within the office. The narrator laments Bartleby's complete withdrawal from productive activity, noting that Bartleby has "given up copying" and "would do nothing in the office." The narrator considers writing to any potential relatives or friends of Bartleby to arrange for his care but finds no such connections. The passage highlights the narrator's growing desperation and the profound sense of isolation that Bartleby embodies, describing him as "alone, absolutely alone in the universe."
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- description_title
- Escalation of Idleness and Dismissal Attempt
- end_line
- 1524
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- 2026-01-30T20:47:52.603Z
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- text
- permanently given up copying.
“What!” exclaimed I; “suppose your eyes should get entirely well—better
than ever before—would you not copy then?”
“I have given up copying,” he answered, and slid aside.
He remained as ever, a fixture in my chamber. Nay—if that were
possible—he became still more of a fixture than before. What was to be
done? He would do nothing in the office; why should he stay there? In
plain fact, he had now become a millstone to me, not only useless as a
necklace, but afflictive to bear. Yet I was sorry for him. I speak less
than truth when I say that, on his own account, he occasioned me
uneasiness. If he would but have named a single relative or friend, I
would instantly have written, and urged their taking the poor fellow
away to some convenient retreat. But he seemed alone, absolutely alone
in the universe. A bit of wreck in the mid Atlantic. At length,
necessities connected with my business tyrannized over all other
- title
- Escalation of Idleness and Dismissal Attempt