It’s noticeable that the lawyer gives Bartleby special treatment compared to the other employees. However, there is little knowledge of these characters beyond a working relationship.īartleby is employed soon after his interview and works more diligently and proficiently than the other employees. These secondary characters are an asset to the lawyer’s business, which is why he keeps them employed. Ginger Nut is a young boy who is sent to the office to become a student of law but is mostly used as an errand boy to bring ginger nut cakes to Turkey and Nippers. He is “always dressed in a gentlemanly sort of way” (Melville 1473). Nippers is a young man that is “the victim of two evil powers- ambition and indigestion” (Melville 1472), the latter which caused him to be irritable and fidgety throughout the day until the afternoon, where his efficiency increased. The lawyer described him as having “clothes were apt to look oily and smell of eating-houses” (Melville 1473). He is obnoxious, has a temper, and dresses poorly.
Melville bartleby the scrivener full#
Turkey was proficient at his job until twelve o’clock, where his face “blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals” (Melville 1470) and his work would suffer until the end of the day. This was a good natural arrangement under the circumstances” (Melville 1474). When Nippers’ was on, Turkey’s was off and vice versa. The narrator states that “heir fits relieved each other like guards. The lawyer avoids conflict with his employees, who have less than favorable qualities, but believes them to be assets to his business. He owns a business that operates in Wall-Street and maintains the status-quo of a typical office environment of a capitalist society. The narrator describes himself as an “elderly man” (Melville 1469) who is also “one of those unambitious lawyers…an eminently safe man” (Melville 1470), and in a way this character is an extension of Melville himself. Melville adds feminine attributes to Bartleby to provide a radical point of view of the male-dominated workforce that emerged in the 19th century and how women impact the typical “masculine” world. However, despite the masculinity portrayed throughout the narrative and the exclusion of women, there is a feminine presence that destroys the notion of a pure masculine world through the character Bartleby. Throughout “Bartleby the Scrivener” Melville introduces the reader to many male characters with interesting personalities and qualities.
0 kommentar(er)
