Question

Which sentence in this excerpt from Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" best exhibits the use of verbal irony?

Ginger Nut, the third on my list, was a lad some twelve years old. His father was a carman, ambitious of seeing his son on the bench instead of a cart before he died. So he sent him to my office, as student at law, errand boy, cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week. He had a little desk to himself, but he did not use it much. Upon inspection, the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of various sorts of nuts. Indeed, to this quick-witted youth, the whole noble science of the law was contained in a nutshell.

. . . For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom.

A) Before, I had never experienced aught but a not unpleasing sadness.

B) Upon inspection, the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of various sorts of nuts. Indeed, to this quick-witted youth, the whole noble science of the law was contained in a nutshell.

C) So he sent him to my office, as student at law, errand boy, cleaner and sweeper, at the rate of one dollar a week.

D) For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me.

Answer 1

B) Upon inspection, the drawer exhibited a great array of the shells of various sorts of nuts. Indeed, to this quick-witted youth, the whole noble science of the law was contained in a nutshell.

Step-by-step explanation:

This is the best example of verbal irony in the passage. Verbal irony occurs when a character uses words that express something that is contrary to truth or that is the opposite of what they truly mean. In this sentence, the speaker calls the boy "quick-witted," which implies that he is intelligent. However, we know that the boy is not intelligent, as he takes no interest in law and spends his day eating nuts.