Bartelby, the Scrivener

"Bartelby, the Scrivener" is an interesting story by Herman Melville. It tells the story of multiple odd personalities. A lawyer who refuses to make his employees follow his orders, a copier who can't write in the morning, a copier who can't write in the afternoon, and another copier who flat out refuses to copy any thing. Bartelby is the latter of the four. He is hired by the lawyer, and at first does very well. Later on however, Bartelby completely stops doing work. He begins as a great hard worker, but over time transitions into simply saying "I would rather not". He refuses to do anything the lawyer asks, and sustains himself on ginger nuts .Bartelby is such an odd character that I am not sure I have ever read of a character quite like him. I wish Melville would've given further insight into what was wrong with Bartelby. The lawyer as well is equally odd. When Bartelby  stops working, the Lawyer simply moves offices rather than firing Bartelby. This seemed extremely odd for an employer to be so afraid of firing his employee. This story was interesting due to the quirks of the characters. I am curious as to what Melville's intent was for Bartelby and why he acts the way  he does.