Definitions for "Bartleby"
Melville's office drone who will neither work nor quit his job is both an inspiration to would-be idlers and a great puzzle. He isn't lazy, nor does he seem to resent or hate his employer (or want a different job), nor does he prefer a life of sensual pleasure, nor is he interested in making a spectacle of himself in order to help others see the light. He just "prefers not to" do anything. He has lost faith in the goodness of the world; he is lackadaisical, in the most tragic sense of that word. This, it seems, is a form of passive resistance - against God. See: ACEDIA, BALK, DETACHED, INDIFFERENT, LACKADAISICAL, PASSIVE, QUITTER, SPLEEN.