Work and its meaning

What is work for? Heaney watches his father dig and wonders whether a pen can do the same thing. Crawford defends manual labor against a culture that treats desk work as the only respectable kind. Melville's Bartleby simply stops -- 'I would prefer not to' -- and lets the entire office try to figure out what that means. Each writer takes a different position on whether work gives life meaning or drains it. Notice who's asking the question and who has the luxury to refuse it.