Short Fiction · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for Short Fiction by Herman Melville.

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Chapter 1
Bartleby
The elderly lawyer-narrator introduces himself, his chambers, and his employees before recounting the arrival and strange behavior of Bartleby, a scrivener who gradually refuses all work and ultimately refuses to leave the office, leading the narrator to move his practice and abandon Bartleby.
Chapter 2
Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!
The narrator, oppressed by personal debts, the deaths of friends in accidents, and the general misery of the world, is lifted from his despair by the triumphant crowing of a magnificent Shanghai cock. He resolves to find and purchase the bird, setting out on a journey through the countryside, but struggles to locate its source.
Chapter 3
The Encantadas
A descriptive and narrative exploration of the Galápagos Islands (the Encantadas), blending natural history with tales of human suffering and isolation, including the story of the Chola widow Hunilla and the hermit Oberlus.
Chapter 4
Sketch First: The Isles at Large
This opening sketch presents the Encantadas (Enchanted Isles) as a desolate, volcanic archipelago that appears cursed and unchanging. The narrator describes the barren landscape, the absence of seasons, the harsh climate, and the strange currents that make navigation treacherous. He introduces the tortoises as symbols of penal hopelessness and recounts the superstition that wicked sea-officers are transformed into them. The isles are portrayed as a fallen, otherworldly place, cut off from the rest of creation.
Chapter 5
Sketch Second: Two Sides to a Tortoise
The narrator reflects on the dual nature of the Encantadas tortoises, which are both dark and bright, and describes his first encounter with three giant tortoises brought aboard his ship. He marvels at their ancient, almost mythical appearance and their relentless, futile toil, but later joins his shipmates in eating their meat and converting their shells into soup-tureens and salvers.

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Bartleby

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!

The Encantadas

Sketch First: The Isles at Large

Sketch Second: Two Sides to a Tortoise