study guide bartleby

Read: “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street Study Guide.

1. What effect does the opening paragraph have on its readers? How are Bartleby

and the narrator different?

2. What does the story (“Bartleby”) imply about society in the 1800s? In what ways

does the absence of nourishment and dysfunctional eating symbolically reinforce

the story’s themes

3. Why is Bartleby often described in terms reminiscent of a "corpse" and a "ghost"?

What is the view from the windows of the law office and why is this important in

the story?

4. Bartleby repeatedly replies “I would prefer not to” in response to his boss’s

requests. Write about whether this stock phrase shows Bartleby to have free will

or not.

5. What is the significance of the Christ metaphor? Why?