There's something simultaneously off-putting yet familiar in the character of Bartleby. The other characters in this story, including the narrator, are all performing various social roles, both those of economic agents and the simpler speaking roles of social animals. Two of the narrator's employees effectively trade off social roles within the office at noon, even. The narrator himself performs every role expected of him, not only assigning tasks and paying wages but also becoming concerned for and attempting to aid his strange new hire.

Bartleby, in contrast, is a character who plays one note and one note only: a steadfast refusal to perform any role others expect of him. Any examination of Bartleby that distills this character into a based anti-capitalist misses the forest for the trees - Bartleby refuses to perform not only the most mundane and ancient roles of socializing, but even the intrinsic role of life, which seeks to perpetuate itself. He has been cast as an actor on the stage of life but would prefer not to play any role at all.