I also agree to the conclusion of Bartlebys behavior as passive resistance. It gave the narrator the choice of reacting with anger towards Bartlebys noncompliance or to look into his own need to dominate his actions, or to dismiss them. The narrator seems to come off as compassionate or confused towards Bartleby, but he also is disregarding the excentricities and unprofessional work ethics of the other employees which leads me to believe that the narrator was also incapable of dealing with his own problems. The narrators duality as you put it was out of selfishness in my opinion. His compassion was to ease his own conscience, and his frustration was simply his inability to control his employees. As long as the work was being done he did not want to take the initiative to confront anyone on their behavior or work ethic. When his reputation was at risk he simply abandoned Bartleby and moved. He could have dealt with these problems in a number of different ways, but each problem was dealt with by his dismissal or lack of responsibility in every case and believed he was acting out of compassion or had no control over the situation.
I also agree to the conclusion of Bartlebys behavior as passive resistance. It gave the narrator the choice of reacting with anger towards Bartlebys noncompliance or to look into his own need to dominate his actions, or to dismiss them. The narrator seems to come off as compassionate or confused towards Bartleby, but he also is disregarding the excentricities and unprofessional work ethics of the other employees which leads me to believe that the narrator was also incapable of dealing with his own problems. The narrators duality as you put it was out of selfishness in my opinion. His compassion was to ease his own conscience, and his frustration was simply his inability to control his employees. As long as the work was being done he did not want to take the initiative to confront anyone on their behavior or work ethic. When his reputation was at risk he simply abandoned Bartleby and moved. He could have dealt with these problems in a number of different ways, but each problem was dealt with by his dismissal or lack of responsibility in every case and believed he was acting out of compassion or had no control over the situation.
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