Bartleby the Scrivener (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Herman Melville
- First Published: 1853
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1840's
- Setting: New York
- Principal Characters: The narrator, Bartleby, Turkey, Nippers, Ginger Nut
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Art or artists, Truth, Eccentrics or eccentricities, Materialism, Isolation
- Locales: New York
The Story
“Bartleby the Scrivener” is narrated by a prosperous Wall Street lawyer who, in “the cool tranquillity of a snug retreat,” does “a snug business among rich men's bonds, and mortgages, and title-deeds.” Among his clients, the nameless narrator is proud to report, was John Jacob Astor, the richest man in the United States at the time of his death.
The narrator's employees, as the story begins, are Turkey and Nippers, who are scriveners, or copyists, and Ginger Nut, a young office boy. The Dickensian copyists present problems for their employer, for...
[The entire page is 1422 words long]
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