And yet, sometimes, we really rather would prefer not to. Bartleby was broken twice, first by the weight of the world at the dead-letter room of the post offic

And yet, sometimes, we really rather would prefer not to. Bartleby was broken twice, first by the weight of the world at the dead-letter room of the post office, and then by the realization that his worth in life was as a scribe. Note how he goes from hard-working to burnt-out as his days fill with the copying of somebody else's qualified work and original thoughts.