# Bartleby explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Herman Melville.

## What happens

The elderly lawyer-narrator introduces himself, his chambers, and his employees before recounting the arrival and strange behavior of Bartleby, a scrivener who gradually refuses all work and ultimately refuses to leave the office, leading the narrator to move his practice and abandon Bartleby.

## Themes in this chapter

### Isolation and Alienation

Bartleby's extreme isolation is highlighted by his living in the office, his silent staring at a brick wall, and his refusal to engage with others.

### Authority and Rebellion

Bartleby's passive resistance ('I would prefer not to') challenges the narrator's authority and the expectations of the workplace.

### The Individual vs. Society

Bartleby's nonconformity and the narrator's struggle to deal with him reflect the tension between individual will and social/economic norms.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator (Bartleby)

The elderly lawyer who employs Bartleby and narrates the story.

### Bartleby

The strange scrivener who initially works diligently but later refuses to copy or leave.

### Turkey

One of the narrator's copyists, known for his afternoon inefficiency.

### Nippers

Another copyist, ambitious and irritable, especially in the morning.

### Ginger Nut

The office boy who runs errands and provides ginger nuts.

## Key lines

> I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations, for the last thirty years, has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men, of whom, as yet, nothing, that I know of, has ever been written—I mean, the law-copyists, or scriveners.

The narrator, an older man, has spent thirty years working closely with law-copyists, a group he finds fascinating but little documented.

_Opening lines establishing the narrator's perspective and subject._

> I would prefer not to.

Bartleby politely but firmly refuses to comply with a request.

_Bartleby's signature phrase, expressing his passive resistance._

> For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam.

The narrator feels a deep, painful melancholy upon realizing Bartleby's utter isolation, recognizing their shared humanity.

_Key moment of empathy and existential reflection._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters/bartleby
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_28_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_28_se/chapters