"Bartleby, the Scrivener": A Character Analysis

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, in many ways, "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville, is a rather strange and enigmatic story. The story does not follow a natural line; it is more of a character-based story, full of the strangest characters. It attempts to discover the hidden meanings that Herman Melville has laid out, such as the lack of real explanation for Bartleby's sudden lack of motivation for his work or for the fact that his lawyer puts up with him.

From the Paper:

"The second character in the lawyer's office was Nippers, a young man of about 25 years old. Nippers seems to be the exact opposite of Turkey and indeed was probably thus created. His main problems are indigestion and ambition. Remember that Turkey was a rather passive, reluctant old man, with no interest in advancing within the office, and who took an extreme pleasure in eating. Well, Nippers suffers from indigestion and is totally ambitious. Even more notably in this complementary cast of the characters (complementary in the sense that, even if they are opposites, they seem to rather complete each other in the story), his best work is done in the afternoon, as in the morning he was generally irritable and upset."

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