BARTLEBY’S ISOLATED VOCALS

Bartleby’s isolated vocals from Bartleby the Scrivener

Bartleby speaks 80 unique words in 34 lines in Bartleby the Scrivener. He “would prefer not to” 14 times and “would prefer not” 2 times.

Three times he “would prefer to” (“give no answer,” “be left alone here,” and “be doing something else”—same babe).

The only* question he asks is:

What is wanted?

It’s the first departure from Bartleby’s first three lines (which are not surprisingly, “I would prefer not to” x3). Then after he asks, “What is wanted?” he’s back on his bullshit with “I would prefer not to” (or a slight variation of it) nine more times.

(*There’s arguably another question Bartleby speaks: “Do you not see the reason for yourself,” but in every edition I’ve checked, it’s un–question marked.)