One of the greatest strengths of Herman Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" lies in its characters. Strong characters set the stage for a strong story, and in Melville's tale of a mysterious individual named Bartleby, the characters do even more than set the stage. These characters, Turkey and Nippers, play a major role in helping to develop the theme of disobedience, as well as to foreshadow how the narrator will handle Bartleby's preference to not do work.

Turkey, an alcoholic, works in the mornings but then begins drinking and becomes extremely unproductive in the afternoon. His counterpart, Nippers, is a nervous fellow, who has his unproductive spell in the mornings, the time in which he uses to dispel his anxieties. Between the two of these characters, the narrator receives one day's work, instead of two. While Turkey and Nippers do not state outright that they would "prefer not to do something," as Bartleby does, their actions are a form of disobedience, which is defined as "refusal or failure to obey." By getting drunk and becoming incapable of working, Turkey is practicing disobedience. By the nature of his personality, which makes it nearly imp

my fellow-feeling was hardly to be resisted. At all events, I saw that go he would not. So I made up my mind to let him stay, resolving, nevertheless, to see to it, that during the afternoon he had to do with my less important papers." (7)

In Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener," a tale is spun of a scrivener who would "prefer not to" do his work. To the reader's surprise his superior, the narrator does not let him go, rather he allows him to stay and be paid for working at his own discretion. The other scriveners, Turkey and Nippers, with their tendency to be unproductive at consistent stretches during the day, help to convey the theme of disobedience, as well as to foreshadow how the narrator will deal with Bartleby's preferences. The narrator, by keeping Turkey and Nippers around, gives the reader a clue early in the story as to how Bartleby might be treated.

With respect to Nippers, the reader sees that the narrator treats his nervous morning fits in much the same manner as he treats Turkeys inability to do good work in the afternoon. The narrator states: "But with all his failings, and the annoyances he caused me, Nippers, like his compatriot Turkey, was a very useful man to me; wrote a neat, swift hand; and, when he chose, was not deficient in

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Approximate Word count = 854
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)