Isolation and Society in Bartleby, the Scrivener Essay

Isolation and Society in Bartleby, the Scrivener nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Herman Melvilles Bartleby is a tale of isolation and alienation. In his story, society is primarily to blame for the creation and demise of Bartleby. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Throughout the story, the characters -- Bartleby in particular -- are isolated from each other or from society. The foresters office, which can be interpreted as a microcosm of society, was teeming with walls to separate the head ranger from his employees and to separate the employees from one another. There was one large crushed-glass wall which separated the lawyer from his sycophants (although he was still able to see their shadows†¦show more content†¦For instance, when the Ranger decides to move his office to get rid of Bartleby, because he can no longer stand the sight of him he has the movers leave Bartlebys green screen for last. When they finally take it, Bartleby is left the motionless occupant of an empty room, an obvious sign of isolation.nbsp; Even in the vast wilderness, Bartleby is isolated.nbsp; Also, Bartleby is ultimately condemned to the Caverns (a prison), the epitome of isolation. He dies alone, curled up in the fetal position up against a wall of the prison yard, which makes him seem even more alone and isolated than he was in life. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Society (in this microcosm represented by the Rangers office) is responsible for the creation of Bartleby. Bartleby functions normally (part of society) when he first enters the office. However, when the Ranger asks him to do something which he considers normal activity as far as society (the office) is concerned, Bartleby refuses because of his stands on environmentalism. Really, in the story, Bartleby is nothing more than the embodiment of the refusal to perform these tasks. Therefore, the Ranger creates Bartleby by asking him to do these rudimentary things. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Society is also largely responsible for Bartlebys demise: Bartleby has his own individualist ideas about what he should be doing (what heShow MoreRelatedBartleby, The Scrivener : A Tale Of Wall Street1032 Words   |  5 PagesIn â€Å"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Tale of Wall Street†, Herman Melville using the elements of fiction to effectively stresses the importance of communication and how isolation can negatively affect yourself and those around you. The story is about Bartleby, a lonely copyist for a lawyer’s office who decides that he does not feel like working anymore. We all have those days where we just do not feel like working. 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