Bartleby criticism essay

Scott Lee
10/17/07
Mrs. Himes
H.A.L. P.6
How is Bartleby a Satire
Herman Melville’s Bartleby is seen as a satire Through the characters in the Bartleby, he ridicules different types of people by describing them sarcastically to show the problems of the society. In the Bartleby, the narrator describes Nippers, one of his employees, “Nippers, the second on my list, was a whiskered, sallow, and, upon the whole, rather piratical-looking young man of about five and twenty. I always deemed him the victim of two evil powers: ambition and indigestion” (Melville 7). He first describes him as a good employee, but then describes him as a victim of ambition and indigestion which are both Nippers and the real society’s problems. Through this, Herman Melville makes fun of the society. In addition, the way Bartleby answers back to the narrator shows how this story is a satire. Every time the narrator asks Bartleby to do something, he answers back, “I would prefer not to” (Melville 12). The reason Bartleby answers not to do is that his lonely background had affected him to be individualized. By making Bartleby answer, “prefer not to,” Herman Melville illustrates and ridicules the problem of individualities and loneness.