Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street by Herman Melville

The narrator, an elderly Manhattan lawyer with a very comfortable business helping wealthy men deal with mortgages, deeds, and bonds. One day, Bartleby, a relatively new employee is asked to help proofread a document and Bartleby answers with what soon becomes his stock response: I would prefer not to. To the dismay of the narrator and to the irritation of the other employees, Bartleby performs fewer and fewer tasks around the office.