- description
- # Bartleby's increasing isolation and refusal to leave
## Overview
This segment, titled "Bartleby's increasing isolation and refusal to leave," is an excerpt from the short story "[Bartleby, The Scrivener](arke:01KG8AJ8SS2R5YVRHT1BCDZZNP)". It details the narrator's growing reconciliation with Bartleby, acknowledging his valuable qualities such as steadiness, industry, and honesty. The segment covers lines 593 to 622 of the source text.
## Context
This segment is part of the larger work "[Bartleby, The Scrivener](arke:01KG8AJ8SS2R5YVRHT1BCDZZNP)", a short story by Herman Melville. The story is contained within the "[Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW)" collection and was extracted from the file "[bartleby_the_scrivener.txt](arke:01KG89J1CRGPEZ66W67EZPAMPE)". This particular segment follows "[Bartleby's arrival and initial employment / Escalation of Bartleby's refusals](arke:01KG8AJMWVZZ38R75AVK1FBYK2)" and precedes "[Bartleby's presence in the office on a Sunday](arke:01KG8AJMX3F5GVJB5CSE4WRHQ6)".
## Contents
The text describes the narrator's evolving perspective on Bartleby, moving from frustration to a grudging acceptance of his peculiar habits. The narrator notes Bartleby's consistent presence in the office and his perceived honesty. Despite occasional "spasmodic passions" caused by Bartleby's refusals, such as the repeated "I prefer not to," the narrator acknowledges the difficulty of his own position. The segment also touches upon the office's multiple keys and the various individuals who possessed them, highlighting the narrator's increasing reliance on and contemplation of Bartleby's unusual behavior.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:05.203Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Bartleby's increasing isolation and refusal to leave
- end_line
- 622
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:37.562Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 593
- text
- As days passed on, I became considerably reconciled to Bartleby. His
steadiness, his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry
(except when he chose to throw himself into a standing revery behind
his screen), his great stillness, his unalterableness of demeanor under
all circumstances, made him a valuable acquisition. One prime thing was
this,—_he was always there;_—first in the morning, continually through
the day, and the last at night. I had a singular confidence in his
honesty. I felt my most precious papers perfectly safe in his hands.
Sometimes to be sure I could not, for the very soul of me, avoid
falling into sudden spasmodic passions with him. For it was exceeding
difficult to bear in mind all the time those strange peculiarities,
privileges, and unheard of exemptions, forming the tacit stipulations
on Bartleby’s part under which he remained in my office. Now and then,
in the eagerness of dispatching pressing business, I would
inadvertently summon Bartleby, in a short, rapid tone, to put his
finger, say, on the incipient tie of a bit of red tape with which I was
about compressing some papers. Of course, from behind the screen the
usual answer, “I prefer not to,” was sure to come; and then, how could
a human creature with the common infirmities of our nature, refrain
from bitterly exclaiming upon such perverseness—such unreasonableness.
However, every added repulse of this sort which I received only tended
to lessen the probability of my repeating the inadvertence.
Here it must be said, that according to the custom of most legal
gentlemen occupying chambers in densely-populated law buildings, there
were several keys to my door. One was kept by a woman residing in the
attic, which person weekly scrubbed and daily swept and dusted my
apartments. Another was kept by Turkey for convenience sake. The third
I sometimes carried in my own pocket. The fourth I knew not who had.
- title
- Bartleby's increasing isolation and refusal to leave