A Wall Street lawyer appointed to the prestigious office of Master of Chancery hires Bartleby as an additional scrivener.

Bartleby proves to be an exceptional worker at first, producing more copies than any other scrivener, even writing by candlelight.

When asked to help verify a copied document, Bartleby responds that he would prefer not to and continues working behind his screen.

Turkey threatens to physically assault Bartleby for his refusals, and the narrator is forced to intervene and restrain Turkey.

The narrator visits his office on a Sunday and finds Bartleby half-dressed, telling the lawyer he cannot enter right now.

Returning to the office later that Sunday, the narrator discovers Bartleby has been secretly living there among hidden personal belongings.

Bartleby tells the narrator his eyesight has been permanently damaged by working in poor light and refuses to copy documents ever again.

The narrator gives Bartleby a deadline of six days to leave the office, but Bartleby remains past the deadline.

The narrator returns the day after leaving bribe money to find Bartleby still in the office with the money untouched.

Unable to force Bartleby out, the narrator moves his entire law practice to a new office location.

The landlord and tenants of the old building confront the narrator, revealing that Bartleby now lives in the building stairwell.

The narrator offers Bartleby several jobs and a place in his own home, but Bartleby declines every offer.

Bartleby is arrested for vagrancy and imprisoned in the Tombs after the narrator fails to prevent it.

The narrator visits Bartleby in the Tombs and pays the prison grub-man to ensure Bartleby receives better food than other inmates.

The narrator returns to the prison and finds Bartleby dead in the courtyard, apparently having starved to death.

A Wall Street lawyer hires a third scrivener named Bartleby, who initially impresses with his diligence before quietly refusing all tasks beyond copying documents. The narrator discovers Bartleby is homeless and living in the office, and their conflict deepens when Bartleby declares his eyes are damaged and stops working entirely. Despite ultimatums, bribery, and eventually moving his own law practice to a new location, the narrator cannot bring himself to force Bartleby out. Bartleby is ultimately arrested for vagrancy and imprisoned, and the narrator's final charitable act of paying for better prison meals fails to save him. Bartleby is found dead of starvation in the prison courtyard, a victim of poverty, isolation, and a society unable to accommodate him. The narrator is left to mourn a man he pitied but could not help.

The headline events of Bartleby's employment, refusal, and death.

The narrator's law office is described as overlooking a lifeless brick wall on one end and a dim skylight shaft on the other.

Turkey, one of the existing scriveners, works well in the morning but becomes agitated, error-prone, and insolent every afternoon after lunch.

Nippers, the second scrivener, is plagued by irritability and frustrated ambition every morning, making him difficult to work with before noon.

Ginger Nut, the office errand boy paid a dollar a week, spends most of his time fetching ginger nut cakes for the scriveners.

Bartleby refuses a second request, saying he would prefer not to verify his copies alongside the other scriveners in the office.

Bartleby refuses to visit the post office when the narrator suggests it as a way to relieve tension with Turkey.

The narrator notices that Bartleby never leaves the office premises and survives almost entirely on cheap ginger nut cakes.

The narrator decides to keep employing Bartleby out of pity, believing other employers would mistreat the strange scrivener.

The narrator asks Bartleby directly to share something about his life or origins, and Bartleby refuses to say anything at all.

Nippers overhears the narrator's exchange with Bartleby about his refusals and grows angry, his morning irritability heightening the conflict.

After declaring he will no longer copy documents, Bartleby simply remains in the office, staring out the window at the brick wall.

At the end of the six-day deadline, the narrator leaves bribe money on Bartleby's desk and congratulates himself on handling the situation.

The new tenant of the narrator's former office contacts the narrator about Bartleby, who continues to haunt the old premises.

The narrator denies all acquaintance with Bartleby when confronted by the new tenant about the scrivener's continued presence.

At the prison, the narrator discovers that Bartleby refuses to eat complete meals, being entirely unaccustomed to them.

Before Bartleby's arrival, the narrator's office is already defined by its gloomy setting and its eccentric employees — Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut — each locked into rigid, unchanging habits that hint at the story's themes of determinism. Bartleby's refusals escalate gradually, from declining to verify documents to refusing to run a simple errand, while the narrator slowly recognizes that Bartleby never leaves and barely eats. The narrator chooses to keep Bartleby employed out of pity, even as Nippers's volatile reaction to the situation signals that the rest of the office is losing patience. A conversation in which Bartleby refuses to share anything about his past deepens the sense that he is beyond ordinary social intervention. As the narrator struggles to disentangle himself, he denies all knowledge of Bartleby to the new tenant, hoping the problem will resolve itself without his involvement. The story's final glimpse of Bartleby shows a man who, even in prison, refuses to sustain himself.

The supporting characters and secondary moments that shape Bartleby's story.

The narrator hires Bartleby and places him behind a folding screen in his own private office, giving the scrivener unusual privacy.

So confused by Bartleby's first refusal, the narrator hands the verification task to Nippers rather than insisting Bartleby comply.

The narrator realizes the word "prefer" has spread from Bartleby into the speech of all his employees, including the narrator himself.

The narrator discovers Bartleby's entire savings tucked inside a knotted handkerchief hidden within the scrivener's desk.

The narrator observes Bartleby spending long stretches of each working day staring in silent reverie at the brick wall outside.

After discovering evidence of Bartleby's homelessness and poverty, the narrator is suddenly overcome with repulsion and resolves to dismiss him.

Despite resolving to fire Bartleby, the narrator is overcome by guilt and what he calls superstition, and keeps the scrivener on.

After finding the bribe money untouched, the narrator wanders the streets alone and uncertain, unable to decide what to do about Bartleby.

During a confrontation with Bartleby, the narrator feels his anger rising to a point where he imagines committing violence against the scrivener.

The narrator calms his rising fury by calling to mind the biblical commandment to love one another and drops the argument.

After reading philosophical texts by Edwards and Priestley, the narrator concludes that his calling in life is to furnish Bartleby with office space.

The narrator resolves to move his own office so he can label Bartleby a trespasser with a clear conscience.

The narrator leaves without helping Bartleby and spends several days traveling, trying to push the entire situation from his mind.

The narrator reveals the rumor that Bartleby previously worked at a dead letter office, handling mail addressed to deceased recipients.

The narrator closes his account of Bartleby with the sorrowful final words "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!"

From the moment Bartleby is placed behind his private folding screen, the narrator begins a complex emotional journey of fascination, guilt, and philosophical resignation. The spread of the word "prefer" into the narrator's own speech signals how deeply Bartleby has penetrated his world, and the discovery of hidden savings confirms the full depth of Bartleby's destitution. The narrator repeatedly forms intentions — to fire Bartleby, to confront him, to dislodge him — only to retreat each time, restrained by guilt, superstition, and a growing belief that Bartleby is beyond help. Philosophical readings by Edwards and Priestley convince the narrator that he is divinely obligated to shelter Bartleby, a rationalization that ultimately leads him to move away rather than act. He escapes the situation through travel and passive avoidance, returning only to offer futile comfort. The story ends with the narrator's revelation of the dead letter office rumor and his final elegiac cry of "Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!"

The key decisions, revelations, and emotional turning points in the narrator's struggle with Bartleby.