In an example of situational irony, the passive resistance that Bartleby uses to gain power and control (over what work tasks he has to do, where he lives, and more) eventually leads to his imprisonment and death. While Bartleby’s assertion that he “prefers not” to do certain things initially seems like a deliberate act of rebellion against capitalism or the workplace, his gradual decline makes it clear that his intentions were not quite so political or empowering.
The irony of Bartleby’s ongoing passive resistance in the face of imprisonment and physical decline comes across in the scene in which the Lawyer visits Bartleby in prison for the second time:
Strangely huddled at the base of the wall, his knees drawn up, and lying on his side, his head touching the cold stones, I saw the wasted Bartleby. But nothing stirred. I paused; then went close up to him; stooped over, and saw that his dim eyes were open; otherwise he seemed profoundly sleeping […] I felt his hand, when a tingling shiver ran up my arm and down my spine to my feet.
The round face of the grub-man peered upon me now. “His dinner is ready. Won’t he dine to-day, either? Or does he live without dining?”
“Lives without dining,” said I, and closed the eyes.
This scene is haunting—Bartleby is “huddled at the base of the wall,” “wasted,” and sleeping with his eyes open. When the Lawyer feels Bartleby’s (presumably cold) arm, “a tingling shiver” runs through his body. While a prisoner might waste away like this due to mistreatment in prison facilities, the irony here is that Bartleby is doing this to himself. While he started the story resisting work he did not want to do, here he seems to be resisting existence itself, killing himself in the process. The Lawyer’s final line in this passage—“[he] lives without dining”—shows how the Lawyer understands Bartleby’s refusal to eat as an extension of his previous refusals, and that there is no reaching him once he has made up his mind.
In an example of situational irony, the Lawyer hires Bartleby because he believes Bartleby will be the perfect fit for the office, contributing needed labor and possibly even helping the other employees to do their jobs better. Bartleby, of course, proves to be the opposite of what the Lawyer expected, as he ends up refusing to do any work while still earning a full paycheck.
The irony comes across in the Lawyer’s excitement and optimism about Bartleby upon interviewing him:
After a few words touching his qualifications, I engaged him, glad to have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect, which I thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of Turkey, and the fiery one of Nippers.
Here, the Lawyer notes Bartleby’s “qualifications” and appreciates how “sedate” Bartleby’s character is, believing that it will help to calm the tempers of his other employees (whose tempers are part of the reason they get so little work done). This is ironic, as Bartleby’s “sedate” temperament eventually morphs into his passive refusal to do any work, leading to the lawyer paying him to do no work at all.
Bartleby’s inefficiency later in the story is also an example of situational irony as, at the start of the narrative, he actually is quite a proficient employee. He is able to produce copy at a rate that the Lawyer has never before seen. This is why, when Bartleby first refuses to do something—specifically, to copyedit his work—the Lawyer describes how he “sat awhile in perfect silence, rallying [his] stunned faculties.” The Lawyer’s shock captures the irony of Bartleby being the opposite of who the Lawyer believed him to be.
