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Morality
In "Bartleby" by the following definition offered by the Oxford English Dictionary, none of the characters employed by the narrator qualify as highly moral characters; "Moral 1)concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. )conforming to accepted standards of behavior". Turkey's immorality is used as a basis of comparison in order to show that Bartleby does not even attempt to be moral nor does he have any potential to be moral.
In Turkey's case the author clearly outlines his flaws as a character, and as a nuisance to any employer. Turkey does not seem to be concerned with how his employer feels but rather makes a routine of getting drunk and obnoxious every afternoon. He is a very loud messy drunk and does not make up pretexts for it. Turkey's character is important in contrast with Bartleby because he seems to be everything Bartleby isn't at first. Here is how the narrator begins his depiction of these two characters " not that he was absolutely idle or averse to business, then ;far from it. The difficulty was that he was apt to be altogether too energetic" (4). He is loud, opinionated, rude, and counter productive at times; when Bartleby was " pallidly neat, pitiably respectable and incurably forlorn" (). We will see that the narrator makes this comparison to show that appearances are deceiving in the case of Bartleby, and that his shift in character makes Turkey seems almost normal in the end.
Besides serving as a comparison to Bartleby, the portrayal of Turkey and the way his incompetence is dealt with, provides the audience with a glimpse of the weakness of his employer. We see this in the way the narrator deals with Turkey in his sad attempt to fire him. It is obvious that he has never learned how to be strict or demanding, and this scenario concludes with the following statement
" At all events. I saw that go he would not. So I made up my mind to let him stay" (5). Instead of putting his foot down, he compromises with Turkey and goes out of his way to make the situation work. It seems like the situation is out of his control when in fact he is the one with authority. This harboring of Turkey's incompetence is a foreshadowing of similar instances in Bartleby's case.
In the literary sense, Bartleby and Turkey seem to be complete opposites. Bartleby is neat and reserved, efficient and respectable. In fact we see that this is one of the main reasons he was hired, to make up for the bad image of the other two scriveners, "I engaged him glad to have among my corps of copyists a man of so singularly sedate an aspect, which I thought might operate beneficially upon the flighty temper of Turkey, and the fiery one of Nippers" (). Yet when Bartleby shows his true colors and states his odd and irritating preferences, Turkey's flaws seem pale by comparison. As the story progresses, Bartleby refuses to comply. At first he refuses to help proof- read his documents, then he refuses to run any errands and finally he "prefers" not to do any work at all.
Just like in the case of Turkey, the employer tried to plead, and attempted to be stern with Bartleby, but he ends up compromising more every day.
In this aspect Turkey and Bartleby are similar to a certain extent, but the odd behavior of Bartleby surpasses any eccentric display seen by Turkey or Nippers. One would even say that the flaws displayed by Nippers, another odd employee, and Turkey were normal human imperfections compared to those displayed by Bartleby. The author built up Turkey to be as odd as we might imagine a coworker, and then introduced Bartleby who puzzles us beyond imagination. His refusal to do work at first is comparable to the temporary lack of work done every day by the other two scriveners, but when Bartleby "prefers" not to work at all, his character surpasses all expectations.
If the lack of moral conduct was not present in Turkey to show the narrator's tolerance for such behavior, his attitude and tolerance toward Bartleby would be more random and would not fit in the story at all. The author built on the characters of the narrator and Turkey to give the audience mixed feelings about Bartleby. Also he did so to show that even most deplorable, inappropriate behavior can be found excuse for. Personally, I felt sorry and angry with Bartleby at the same time, because I saw him through the eyes of the narrator. Since he had given Turkey and Nippers chances to fit into his office life, the narrator felt the need to do so with Bartleby even though his case was more severe and unusual. In response he ended up going to unusual lengths to accommodate Bartleby in order to make himself think he did everything he could to help the situation. The greater the demands made by the scrivener, the greater the compromise, resulting in the "boss" moving his offices. This is a glimpse of the ongoing denial and self assurance that Bartleby is to be pitied going on in the narrator's mind.
Even so, for the most part, I regarded Bartleby and his own ways. Poor fellow! Thought I, he means no mischief; it is plain he intends no insolence; his aspect sufficiently evinces that his eccentricities are involuntary. He is useful to me. I can get along with him. If I turn him away, the chances are he will fall in with some less indulgent employer, and then he would be rudely treated, and perhaps driven forth miserably to starve. Yes. Here I can cheaply purchase a delicious self- approval.(15)
Bartleby is not only nonchalant in his refusal to adapt to moral behavior and normal office expectations, but he doesn't even attempt to do so in light of low standards presented by his two coworkers. Turkey's purpose in the story is to show that Bartleby was not only odd compared to the outside life, but even compared to the non existent guidelines in this office environment.
Like Turkey, Bartleby takes advantage of his employer's lack of a backbone, only he does this to a greater extent. We see Turkey appeal to his soft spot for their age similarity, "this appeal to my fellow feeling was hardly to be resisted" (5). Bartleby does not even think to ask for help, pity or accept it when offered to him, instead he demands it. The way he does this is inconceivable to me as a reader; not only does he refuse to run errands or do work at all, but he imposes himself and lives in the office without permission. It is interesting to see that even the characters that seem flawed and detached at the beginning of the story offer to put Bartleby in his place, showing that even though similar at first the three are worlds apart.
Even though Turkey does not seem as a moral person by definition, when compared to Bartleby he posses human characteristics that make him more likely to conform to standards or moral requirements than he seems at first glance. Even when incarcerated, Bartleby still has the same passive attitude that he has throughout the story, showing that he has no desire to change even when his life is at stake. Bartleby doesn't eat, drink, get mad or show any kind of emotion therefore he cannot show morality if he does not posses humanity, this is why Turkey is closer to being a moral person than Bartleby can even be capable of.
Herman Melville's Bartleby and The Lightning- Rod Man. New York 168, Penguin 60s; 1-48
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