Bartleby And The Walls example essay topic

Everywhere we go, we are surrounded by walls. The walls act as barriers that alienate us from the outside world. These barriers increase our inability too see the nature of one another, and act as detachments of our own humanity. In the short story of "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville, the main character, Bartleby, is placed in a working environment where he is enclosed by walls. These walls put restraints on Bartleby and ultimately make him the person who he really is; a character who is reserved that does not have much of a personality. Not only do the walls withdraw Bartleby from himself and from the society but also they act as a type of shelter, where Bartleby and the narrator can hide and escape exposure, of both themselves and problems that they have to deal with.

Recurring themes in Bartleby is walls and seclusion. In the beginning of the story Herman Melville describes the office setting that Bartleby has to work in. Bartleby's office is surrounded by walls, which divides his desk from the other employees. His working environment isolates him and influences his inability to communicate with the other workers. "My chambers were up stairs at No. -- -Wall - street.

In that direction my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and everlasting shade; which wall required no spy - glass to bring out its lurking beauties, Cherkassky 2 but, for the benefit of all nearsighted spectators, was pushed up to within ten feet of my window panes". Bartleby refers to his office space as his "chambers", and since chambers are mostly found in prisons, Melville subtly implies that Bartelby's office space is much like a prison. Since Melville demonstrates that Bartleby works in the confines of solid walls, the most convenient place for this story to take place is " 'Wall's street", hence the title "A Story on Wall Street". Bartleby is very much like the wall that surrounds him. The wall is "black with age and everlasting shade". Black is a color associated with gloom and death.

Bartleby simply exists, and with time he becomes very dull and inactive until he eventually dies in misery. Melville portrays Bartleby so that he seems to have an obsession with the walls. "I remember that he never spoke but to answer; that though at intervals he had considerable time to himself, yet I had never seen him reading -no, not even a newspaper; that for long periods he would stand looking out, at his pale window behind the screen, upon the dead brick wall... ".

Bartleby finds no need to interact with other people. He dedicates most of his free time staring at the "dead brick wall". Perhaps he sees something in the walls that other people can not, or maybe the walls are just a mere reflection of Bartleby's fate. Many correlations exist between Bartleby and the walls that surround him. The walls are described as having a "dead" appearance, and Bartleby is referred to as being ghostly, perhaps having a spirit of the dead: "Like a very ghost, agreeable to the laws of magical invocation, at the third summons, he appeared at the entrance of his hermitage".

Cherkassky 3 The walls also function as a type of shelter where the lawyer can seek refuge. The lawyer is unable to take Bartleby away, when he is confronted and told that Bartleby has to vacate the office premises. The lawyer is able to keep to himself, and uses the walls in the office as a source of protection. "Aghast at this torment, I fell back before it, and would have fain locked myself in my new quarters". The lawyer wishes to "lock" himself in his new quarters so this way he can hide behind the walls in his office and escape his problem and worriment. The narrator tries to avoid being exposed because being bare from behind the walls frightens him greatly.

"Fearful then of being exposed in the papers... ". The walls that surround Bartleby put restraints on him, and influence his lonely manner and lack of interaction with other people. The walls affect Bartleby's behavior to such an extreme that he does not chose to conform to society. He "prefers not to" carry out his boss's commands, in all cases. His statement "I'd prefer not to" indicates that he does not chose to be included in the everyday Wall Street life.

At the end of the story, Bartleby is too different and changed to survive in a society, so he consequently dies, "preferring not to" do anything with his life. Cherkassky 4