Not having a will, becomes thus the only possibility to attain freedom and this thesis present in Schopenhauer's thinking seems to have protruded into Melville's convictions when he wrote the short tale. Norberg, Peter. "On Teaching Bartleby." Leviathan. Vol. 2. Issue 2(p. 87-99)

Norbert presents the line of events that led to him choosing a particular method of teaching Bartleby the Scrivener to his students. The revelation of the importance of the word "preference' in the context of the short story makes Norbert realize that one of the keys to decipher the meaning of Bartleby's existence in the chambers of the lawyer-narrator: he usurped the latter's confidence in his managerial capacities.

Norberg thinks he has found one of the ways to explain purpose of the scrivener's preferences: to challenge authority, the most powerful form of authority: that of public opinion in a democracy.

Peter Norberg explains why he introduced Bartleby the Scrivener in two of his courses. The major motivation consists in the understanding of the way literature...

Norberg draws a parallel between the contemporary politics and the formation of public opinion and the way literature with "Bartleby the Scrivener" as a conclusive example, contributes to both formation and keeping the mind open to any change.
Norberg considers the whole picture that the technological, social, political and cultural changes of the nineteenth century created and points out to his students the importance of understanding the literature written in this period though the lenses of these changes.

The context Norberg presents Melville's short story is taking into account among others Thoreau's Walden "as a critical response to this progressive model of liberal state that is implicit in Emersonian individualism" (93). The parallel between human resources management in a capitalist democratic society and the relationship between Bartleby and his employer is destined by Norberg to give birth to all kinds of assumptions form the part of his students.