Isolation and Society in Bartleby, the Scrivener Essay

There are many ways that people can isolate themselves. Isolation is not always something brought upon one’s self. Isolation can be optional, or a person may have no option in isolation. Stevie Smith, Nathaniel Hawthorne and E.A Robinson show, develop, and illustrate the theme of isolation in their short story and poems.

As the noise grew louder the narrator decided to make the final approach towards the old man by running out yelling “Die, Die!” As the old man dies, the narrator said “Still his heart was beating; but I smiled as I felt that success was near. For many minutes that heart continued to beat; but at last the beating stopped.” As the situation stopped the narrator soon calmed down which slowed down his heart rate, the narrator soon grabbed the bed sheets, to closely listen to the old man’s heart. Once he was pleased of not hearing the heart, he quickly dismembered the body and hid the old man in his bedroom under the floor planks.

By the end of the story, the constant refusals wear everyone down and he is left alone. When new people move into the building, Bartleby still refuses to move from his office, leading to his arrest. Locked away in prison, Bartleby still refuses to eat, saying that “I prefer not to dine today”. This is significant because it shows that he still uses polite wording even though he has given up living. He courteously refuses to eat and chooses to live for as long as he prefers to live and curls up against one of the prison walls. This refusal, even in the face of death, shows an almost courageous side of Bartleby. He knows that he will most likely die, but he still musters up the courage to continue his fight. Due to his refusal of food, he will be buried without sustenance for the afterlife, a final nod to his status as a man without power, appetite, or

death. He feels guilty that he’s done so, and to show his loyalty to Mr. Keating and that Mr.

Isolation is the separation from others and/or society whether it be physically or emotionally. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, I believe that a central theme is that the isolation from family and society, especially at a time when one is faced with difficulty, can have a negative effect on a person. The main characters in the story, Victor Frankenstein and the monster, both experience the same suffering of being alone in different ways. The negative consequences are the death of their loved one and eventually the end of their own.

Barbara Sher once said, “‘Isolation is a dream killer’” (qtd. in Wishcraft). In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck scrutinizes the effects that alienation can have on society. Many characters experience loneliness throughout the novel. He illustrates the results of individuals becoming isolated from their peers. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays characters alienated from society in order to illustrate the harmful effects of loneliness caused by discrimination.

Another form of symbolism important to Bartleby’s isolation is the imagery of “walls”. The story’s setting is on “Wall Street” and at the office the men work at “look upon a white wall” (1) and have an “unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall”(2). The walls represent society’s blocks on Bartleby and his progress in society.

They make choices that isolate themselves from everyone else. However, other characters are forced into isolation for reasons that are not in their control. The actions of another cause them to experience loneliness. The story begins with Robert Walton writing to his sister, Margaret, about his voyage to an undiscovered place.

In Bartleby, The Scrivener, Bartleby serves as the main character with his distinct nature that everyone is trying to decipher. Despite the attention around Bartleby, much of the story also revolves around the narrator, the lawyer, who tells the story through his perspective; this implies that the lawyer’s ideology and perception of societal norms shape the interactions between the lawyer and Bartleby but also how the story is told. Take for example, if the lawyer disregards Bartleby and fires him on the spot, this story would have ended rather quickly and been much different than it actually is. With this said, the lawyer’s peculiar attraction to Bartleby’s strange behavior can be explained by the lawyer’s innate ideas of social norms and instruction that stems from the behavior of the other scriveners and his own experiences.

In the Nathaniel Hawthorne tale, “Young Goodman Brown,” we see and feel the solitude/isolation of the protagonist, Goodman. Is this solitude not a reflection of the very life of the author?

Have you ever seen a person so disconnected from society and from what is considered to be normal that he or she made you question their sanity? If so, you could relate with the lawyer in the story “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” In this story, the narrator, who is a lawyer, has a simple man named Bartleby respond to a job opening as a scrivener. Unbeknownst to the lawyer, Bartleby did not act in the manner the lawyer would have expected. Bartleby is so outside of what is expected that it is almost as if he had died and no longer had to live up to society’s standards. In this story, Bartleby is portrayed as a lifeless zombie and is alone with nowhere to go, no one to see, nowhere to be, and no purpose to live for.

Max Vandenburg experienced isolation both physically and emotionally. He was a Jew in Germany during World War II. Max was isolated from the outside world because Jews were not allowed in Germany. Max felt alone and longed to see the sky or nature at least

Herman Melville, an American novelist and major literary figure explored psychological themes in many of his works. Through his writing, Melville recreated a part of life that existed then, and is prevalent in our society today. Low self esteem along with self-perception and how others perceive us can be a factor leading to depression. Depression, if left untreated can become so severe that it is possible to cause someone to lose the will to live. I will clarify this illness and it’s ill effects in the story “Bartleby the Scrivener”, by Herman Melville.

The story of Bartleby is dominated by the lack of action of the characters. The main characters are the lawyer, who tells the story, and Bartleby, who is one of the the employees. At the beginning of being hired, bartleby was an efficient worker. However, as the story draws on, this character prefers to do nothing. The lawyer asks him for explanations in a passive, sympathetic manner, and without any kind of aggression, but Bartleby always says: ¨I would prefer not to¨. He declines to do any work . Bartleby appears humble, sad, reserved, and quiet; he is not confrontational, but refuse to work. The lawyer feels simpathy for his employee, and at the same time he feels challenged. This situation becomes in a problem for the lawyer. Problem that

Nothing is more patience trying than watching paint slowly dry, the one exception to this sentiment however, maybe the patience of a wise kind man being tested to his absolute limit.