His general unhappiness exhibits itself in constant rearranging of his desk no matter what he does to it, he's never comfortable. The second clerk, Nippers, is a young, ambitious, and discontented man.The Narrator does the best he can, and just doesn't give Turkey very important work after lunch. The Narrator tries to politely send Turkey home earlier in the day, but the drunkard won't have it he's proud of the messy, exuberant work he does in the afternoon.Despite the fact that Turkey is useless after lunch, the Narrator keeps him on apparently, he's as useful as can be before noon.Every day after lunch, Turkey returns to the office with a red face, a belly full of beer, and a wild, reckless disposition. Turkey's face is particularly red after lunchtime though the Narrator never comes right out and says it, Turkey is obviously a raging alcoholic. Turkey is jokingly named for the color of his face – like a turkey, he's got a bright red wattle.The office employs three clerks: Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut (nicknames, not real ones!).The office itself isn't too exciting – most of its views look out at the walls of other buildings. The Narrator is appointed to a rather dignified position (Master in Chancery) by the state, and establishes a respectable office on Wall Street.He name-drops John Jacob Astor (a famous businessman of the day), showing us early on that he's something of a vain man, contrary to his denial of that. We learn that the Narrator is a well-to-do lawyer, who made a comfortable living for himself by being dependable, rather than brilliant.He immediately informs us that Bartleby the scrivener will be the main point of the story, but doesn't get to him quite yet. The Narrator kicks off this short story by introducing himself and his situation.

Bartleby the scrivener sparknotes