Bartleby, the Failure It is not rare, sometimes it is even common, that an author speaks about his or her self in their works. Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" is often considered such a story. Many of the characters in the story and images created allude to Melville's writing career, which was generally deemed a failure. The main character in the story can either be Bartleby or the narrator, but Melville partially embodies both of them. We are understanding towards the narrator's reasoning for keeping Bartleby and for the sympathy he shows for Bartleby. After the general failure of Moby Dick, at least in Melville's time, he immediately wrote Pierre, whic