An Analysis of Supporting Characters in Melville's "Bartleby"

In many stories, characters act as foils to each other to reveal their true nature and personality. Minor characters can also can lead to inferences about the personality of the narrator.  In Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, Turkey and Nippers are integral for the story because they in effect work to reveal the personality of the narrator and are a foil for Bartleby; Melville's contrivances in turn facilitate the reader's understanding of the direness of Bartleby's condition, and raises probing questions regarding independent identity.

The narrator, a lawyer in Wall Street, employs two scriveners. Turkey is the first of the law copyists revealed by the narrator. An Englishman somewhere around the age of 60, Turkey is an alcoholic whose work output diminishes during the last half of the day. In the morning, Turkey is "a most valuable person” and “the quickest, steadiest creature” (22). In the afternoon, Turkey's drinking transforms him into a boor who is characterized by "strange, inflamed, flurried, flighty recklessness" (22) and who languidly churns out below-par work ridden with ink blots. Turkey also bears a streak of insolence. When the narrator asks Turkey what he thinks about Bartleby's refusal to copy papers, Turkey replies, "I think I’ll just step behind this screen and black his eyes for him" (28). Turkey provides comic relief, which serves to relieve tension, because he possesses an aggressive, yet darkly humorous demeanor. He is also messy, unkempt, and delivers a below-standard work performance, but the narrator cannot seem to fire him and instead decides that he can put up with Turkey's quirks because Turkey is very productive in the morning.Through Turkey’s presence, we can deduce that the narrator has a mellow and understanding personality.

The lawyer/narrator then introduces Nippers, the second copyist. Nippers is around 25 years of age and also exhibits states of agitation and lethargy. While Turkey performs best in the morning, Nippers performs best in the afternoon. Nippers displays "nervous testiness" and frequently mutters "unnecessary maledictions" (23). He cannot adjust his chair or desk perfectly, so as a result he angrily adjusts it frequently. The narrator also observes that Nippers possesses exorbitant ambition for his vocation: the scrivener lacks professionalism in that he produces false legal documents which he attempts to submit as real. According to one critic, “both he and his documents in this respect are ‘false copies.’ They aspire to a level of authenticity that they cannot attain” (Weinstock). Therefore we see that Nippers’s moral fiber lacks sincerity. His vain, hot ambition has driven him to an obsession to produce, like a machine, copies, real or not, which has in effect compromised his integrity. The narrator believes that "the truth of the matter was, Nippers knew not what he wanted" (23). This is evidence of the narrator’s ability to judge fairly well the character of another. The lawyer analyzes Nippers's behavior and has the intuition to recognize that Nippers lacks peace and stability. This later adds a dimension of perplexity to the story when Bartleby arrives, as the lawyer surprisingly cannot decipher the motives of Bartleby.

Bartleby is an enigma compared to the other copyists. The lawyer's first impression of Bartleby is that he is "pallidly neat, pitiably respectable, incurably forlorn!" (25). For a short time after he is hired, he produces work day and night. Shortly thereafter, he begins his "I would prefer not to" mantra and subsequently refuses to copy law papers or obey orders. Unlike Turkey, Bartleby is neat and calm.  While Nippers is perpetually cramped in his desk and chair, Bartleby sleeps in and makes his home in the office.  Nippers knows not what he wants, while Bartleby knows exactly what he wants: he vocally communicates that he would “prefer not to”, an assertive approach, unlike the other copyists’ habitual negligence without any sort of explanation. The sharp contrast between how Nippers and Bartleby carry out their work is what reveals the implicit question, what does it mean to be true to one’s self? or in other words, what are the hallmarks of authenticity in a person’s character? Weinstock corroborates this claim with his comparison of the two characters: “whereas Nippers tries to pass off fake documents as real--or rather unauthorized as authorized--Bartleby's refusal to verify leaves the documents he produces (like a rumor) in a spectral limbo-space between real and fake, authorized and unauthorized”. Despite his refusal to comply and thus fit the mold like Turkey and Nippers, Bartleby in effect proves his independence as an autonomous, independent soul.

The juxtaposition of preferences shows that the first two copyists together are Bartleby’s foil, and provide relief for tension created within the plot. Bartleby is attached to the office like a barnacle on a rock, yet refuses to work each day; Turkey and Nippers toggle between states of productiveness and states of distress each day, yet continue to work. Bartleby's rebellion is that of passive, civil disobedience, while Nippers and Turkey act out in fiery anger in response to the drudgery of office life. Yet another instance of sharp contrasts is the three scriveners’ eating habits. Turkey and Nippers feast on the ginger nuts, and they have “spicy” personalities. Bartleby appears to eat only ginger nuts, and the narrator contemplates this.  He wonders why Bartleby, who eats this "hot, spicy thing" (29)  is not stimulated by the spice's properties as the other scriveners appear to be. Melville injects this irony into the story to fortify the plot.

Turkey and Nippers show that the narrator can handle difficult personalities because he understands why they behave that way and he has a gentle, patient demeanor. However, the narrator cannot explain or make meaning of Bartleby’s personality because Bartleby's actions are so bizarre. The narrator cannot trace a cause of Bartleby's disobedience because Bartleby behaves in a ghost-like manner.  Critic Hester Blum points out that Branka Arsic, author of Passive Constitutions, or, 7 1/2 Times Bartleby, puts it this way as she examines Bartleby:  "If it is almost impossible to determine anything about him, if he is forever lost, it is because the concepts of our familiar knowledge cannot comprehend him". Bartleby behaves unlike any human the narrator has beheld, and the narrator has clearly had to deal with some dysfunctional adults.

Turkey and Nippers’s presence deepens Melville's story because their eccentricities push the lawyer to contemplate root of an individual's strange behavior. While their presence serves as insight into the psychological quirks of office mates, they also keep the story flowing and set the tone for the monotonous reality of office life. Their interactions with Bartleby and the lawyer render the story in a way such that, if they were not present, Bartleby's message of civil disobedience would not have been as profound and dramatic.

Works Cited

Blum, Hester. "Melville, Three Ways." Studies in the Novel 41.3 (Fall 2009). Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

Melville, Herman. “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardner, Beverly Lawn, Jack Ridl, and Peter Schakel. Boston/New York, 2009. 20-47. Print.

Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew. "Doing Justice to Bartleby." The American Transcendental Quarterly. 17.1 (March 2003). Literature Resource Center. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.