# Bartleby, the Scrivener — Character guide

> Key figures in Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville.

- [The Lawyer](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/11231/characters/the_lawyer.md): The unnamed narrator and employer of Bartleby, a conservative and elderly man who runs a law practice on Wall Street.
- [Bartleby](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/11231/characters/bartleby.md): A pale, forlorn scrivener hired by the lawyer, who gradually begins to refuse all work with the polite but firm phrase "I would prefer not to."
- [Turkey](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/11231/characters/turkey.md): An elderly, efficient scrivener in the lawyer's employ who becomes irritable and error-prone in the afternoons.
- [Nippers](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/11231/characters/nipples.md): A young, ambitious scrivener who suffers from indigestion and irritability in the mornings, but is calm and useful in the afternoons.
- [Ginger Nut](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/11231/characters/ginger_nut.md): A twelve-year-old office boy who runs errands for the scriveners and is named for the cakes he often fetches.
- [The Grub-man](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/11231/characters/grubman.md): A man who works at the Tombs prison, providing food and small comforts to the inmates for a fee.

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