The Legend of Bartleby “Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance.” (13) This is so because there is nothing a rational person can do to combat a passive message. Should a group of people decide not to eat until their government complies with their demands, the government will feel the need to comply from a humanitarian stand point. There is nothing else that the government can do to prevent the death of its …showed first 75 words of 1264 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1264 total…vocational requirements, Bartleby was able to project his individuality. This bold example of passive resistance was amazingly successful as it took the society it was aimed changing and made it do everything that was inefficient to solve the problem. Bartleby created a vein of controversy that broadened the gap between the narrator and his other scriveners. They were looking for blood and their boss could only tell them to was “…pray, put up your fists.” (14)