Final answer:
Herman Melville uses Bartleby's passive resistance to develop the lawyer's character by contrasting it with the lawyer's increasing frustration, revealing his vulnerabilities and the lawyer's inability to cope with defiance in the legal profession.
Step-by-step explanation:
Herman Melville utilizes Bartleby's characteristic responses, particularly his passive resistance, to further develop the complexity of the lawyer's character. This is best seen in option c) By contrasting Bartleby's passive resistance with the lawyer's frustration. Throughout the story "Bartleby, the Scrivener," Bartleby's repeated phrase, "I prefer not to," serves not only as a mantra for his own character but also as a catalyst that reveals the lawyer's conflicting emotions - from curiosity to frustration, pity to exasperation.
The lawyer is portrayed as a man of traditional habits and professional decorum. However, Bartleby's indefatigable refrain and unyielding presence become an 'intolerable incubus' for him, pushing the lawyer to the brink of his professional and personal patience. The dynamic between Bartleby's tranquil declination and the lawyer's inner turmoil provides depth to the lawyer's character, showing his vulnerabilities and limitations in dealing with defiance.
Melville deftly uses this interaction to explore themes of conformity, humanity, and isolation in the corporatized legal world of 19th century Wall Street. The lawyer's narrative, filled alternatively with surprise, vexation, and exasperation at Bartleby's behavior, lays bare his own sense of helplessness in the face of the scrivener's inexplicable conduct and shapes the reader's perception of him.