My idea of Bartleby

Just to get the record straight, I am Nikki Hansen. This is MY work. So, Nick Hengen :) If you come across this page please know that I posted this after I turned my paper in today (10.1.09)

Conformity and the Lack Thereof in Bartleby, The Scrivener
ENGL 3006

In Bartleby, the Scrivener, Melville uses nicknames to signify the importance of conforming to a role, which reflects the priorities of society in the nineteenth century America. However, he also uses nicknames to illustrate the lack of individuality in a corporate world and uses Bartleby, who only has half a nickname, as a sign of rebellion against a conformist population.
Nicknames are used in many of the literatures written in the nineteenth century as a way of showing a person’s conformity to society, or lack thereof. For example, in Henry James’ Daisy Miller, Daisy refuses to go by her true name: Annie (James, 7), while also refusing to conform to the nature of society in Europe. In other literature, such as Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain, which is overflowing with the idea of conforming to race and name roles, Tom and Chambers realize that the lives they have been living, given to them mainly through their names, are false and they are forced to face consequences because of it; even Pudd’nhead resists his nickname and proves himself to be a sharp man. In Bartleby, nicknames are given to express the lack of individuality in a corporate world, and are used to emphasize the mundane tasks that define these human beings.
The three main nicknamed characters in the story are Turkey, Nippers and Ginger Nut. Ginger Nut is named because he buys and delivers ginger nut cakes to the office. Turkey is named because of his, “red and radiant countenance (20)” after he consumes large amounts of alcohol. While he is functional in the morning, his alcohol consumption renders him useless in the afternoon. Nippers is named for his “nervous testiness and irritability (21)” caused by his inability to fix his dissatisfaction with his role in the workplace. This uneasiness keeps him occupied for most of the morning, causing him to grind his teeth and continuously rearrange his desk (21). Nippers and Turkey still have jobs solely because they compliment each other in the workplace; one can take over where the other leaves off. Nothing is spoken of their personal lives or families, reducing them to the only signifier they have: their “names”. This is also the case of the lawyer. His namelessness represents how impersonal you become as you climb the corporate ladder and, more or less, start identifying yourself by the types of people you hire: “The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting…set of men…scriveners (18).” By doing this, Melville strips them of all individuality, reducing them to nothing more than their trivial duties in a corporate world.
Bartleby is different in both the category of nicknames and conformity. Bartleby can only be given half of a nickname (the scrivener) because we already know half of his real name (Bartleby). Perhaps this is the reason why he is able to rebel against the conformist nature of society, even though it results in his death. Although he is hired to be the calming mediator between Turkey and Nippers, he eventually takes his title as scrivener to the extreme; he becomes his name, just as society expects him too. However, Bartleby finds a way to break away from the idea of conformity through the use of a simple phrase: “I would prefer not to (25).” Because Bartleby hasn’t lost his name entirely, he hasn’t lost his individuality. Eventually, he “prefers” not to work, to eat, to sleep or even to live – and with his death he succeeds in escaping the demands of society. Bartleby is never full bound to his position because he is never fully bound to a nickname, and he dies without conforming to the corporate ways.
Conformity is an underlying theme in most nineteenth century literature, whether it be community, race, age or gender roles. Melville successfully demonstrates how insignificant one can become in a corporate world by reducing the characters to their every day tasks and behaviors. By leaving Bartleby with a name, he leaves him the opportunity to change things and possibly influence others to do the same.



Henry James, . Daisy Miller. Dover. Mineola New York: Dover Publications, 1995. Print.

Paul Negri, Herman Melville, . Bartleby, The Scrivener. Negri. Mineola New York : Dover Publications, 2002. Print.