What happens in Chapter 2 of Bartleby, the Scrivener?
The narrator, a mild-mannered lawyer on Wall Street, finds that his once orderly office is increasingly thrown into chaos by Bartleby's habitual refusals. When asked to handle routine tasks like collating documents, running errands, or even talking to clients, Bartleby simply replies with his trademark phrase: "I would prefer not to." The narrator is both confused and unnervingly immobilized by the calm finality of these refusals; he neither sends Bartleby away nor forces him to do anything. Seeking support, he turns to his other clerks, Turkey and Nippers, hoping they'll share his frustration, but their reactions are humorously split, reflecting their own quirky temperaments. The narrator tries various strategies—reassigning tasks, having private discussions with Bartleby, and even appealing to his sense of charity—but each effort crumbles against Bartleby's unwavering passivity. By the end of the chapter, Bartleby has stopped copying entirely, and the narrator, unable to make a firm decision, retreats into rationalizations, convincing himself that some mysterious Providence must have brought Bartleby into his life.
Analysis
Melville's craft in this chapter relies on a growing sense of negation. The phrase "I would prefer not to" is less about dialogue and more like a chant—each repetition chips away at the narrator's authority, revealing how much of professional power hinges on the other party's willingness to show respect. Melville is clear about what the narrator doesn't do: he doesn’t shout, threaten, or take action. This inaction is the true focus of the chapter.
The Wall Street backdrop heightens the irony. The narrator's office is designed for producing documents—copies of copies—and Bartleby's refusal to copy challenges the entire reproductive logic of capitalism. The "dead wall" outside Bartleby's window, referenced again here, reflects the blank facade Bartleby presents to every request.
Tonal shifts are handled with care. The narrator's voice fluctuates between frustration and something resembling awe; Melville allows the humor of Turkey and Nippers to ease tension just before the narrator's deeper discomfort returns. This chapter also signifies a change in the narrator's self-image: he starts to frame his tolerance as a virtue, a shift that Melville illustrates with subtle, biting irony. The narrator's retreat into Providence suggests not spiritual clarity but a moral retreat disguised as faith.
Key quotes from Chapter 2
“I would prefer not to.”
Bartleby's response to virtually every request the narrator makes, repeated throughout the chapter until it takes on an almost hypnotic, destabilising weight.
“Nothing so aggravates an earnest person as a passive resistance.”
The narrator's own reflection on Bartleby's behaviour, inadvertently diagnosing his own helplessness as much as Bartleby's strategy.
“I never feel so private as when I know you are here.”
Bartleby's sole unprompted remark to the narrator, a line whose quiet menace unsettles the professional boundary the narrator has been trying to maintain.
Check your understanding
Ask about this work
The reader has this chapter in front of it — the summary, the analysis, the key quotes and the vocabulary — along with the rest of the book’s chapters. Ask what happens and why it matters, or push back on a reading.
It cites the chapter or the line it is working from, and it says so plainly when the guide doesn’t cover something. It’s instructed never to write an essay, a paragraph or an answer for you to hand in, and never to grade anything — it will show you how to approach the question instead. The reader is an AI, not a person, and its replies are written by Claude, from Anthropic. The people behind Storgy are at hello@storgy.com.
Sign in to ask the reader about this work — 1 credit covers three messages.
Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 2
- I would prefer not to
- Bartleby's repeated, calm refusal to carry out any task asked of him; a polite but immovable expression of passive non-compliance.
- incubus
- A heavy, oppressive burden or source of distress that weighs on someone's mind; here used to describe the narrator's growing anxiety about Bartleby.
- ejaculated
- Said something suddenly and sharply; an old-fashioned word for exclaiming something in surprise or strong emotion.
- predestination
- The theological doctrine that all events, including a person's fate, are fixed in advance by a higher power and cannot be changed by human will.
- forlorn
- Pitifully sad and abandoned, with no hope of comfort or companionship; utterly alone and desolate.
- cadaverous
- Looking like a corpse; extremely thin, pale, and hollow-faced in a way that suggests death or severe wasting away.
- hermit
- A person who withdraws completely from society and lives in isolation; here applied to Bartleby's reclusive refusal to leave the office.
- waylaid
- Stopped or intercepted someone unexpectedly along their path in order to speak with or confront them.
- inscrutable
- Impossible to understand or interpret; so mysterious in expression or behavior that no one can guess what is going on inside.