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How does Bartleby the Scrivener end?
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Herman Melville
American writer Herman Melville.
In the short story Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville, the titular characterās life concludes in tragedy. After increasingly refusing to perform his duties with the phrase, "I would prefer not to," Bartleby is eventually jailed for vagrancy. While incarcerated, he continues to reject assistance and ultimately dies of self-neglect.1