Isolation and Society in “Bartleby”

What motivates you to be well-founded when it comes to normal requests? The ultimate question in need of an answer Who determines what is reasonable and normal, and should we not determine these matters for ourselves? Chaos would result if every individual were granted that freedom. Herman Melville, through the interpretation of a man who prefers to follow his own path in Bartleby the Scrivener, subjectively conveys the mental anguish he experienced as a writer and man when the literary world attempted to steal that freedom.From the onset of Melvilles story, it becomes quite an app bent that Bartleby is a man who prefers not to do what corporation wishes of him. He prefers not to honor any request from his employer that would make him deviate from what he prefers to be doing. Herman Melvilles Bartleby is a tale of isolation and alienation. The lawyers office, which can be interpreted as a microcosm of society, was teeming with walls to break down the head ranger from his employee s and to separate the employees from one another.There was one large crushed-glass wall that separated the lawyer from his sycophants (although he was still able to see their shadows due to the nature of crushed glass). The other workers adjust up a folding green screen to hide Bartleby because of his hideous appearance. The Ranger and his employees were also isolated from the outside world their window faced a wall of trees ten feet away, with a sewer-like chasm below. Other indicators of isolation are evident later in the story.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 tend to Bartlebys green screen last. When they finally take it, Bartleby is left the motionless occupant of an unoccupied room, an obvious sign of isolation. 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 reckon even more alone and isolated than he was when alive.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 aboutthing that he considers normal activity as far as society (the office) is concerned, Bartleby refuses because of his stance on environmentalism. 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. Society is also largely responsible for Bartlebys demise Bartleby has his own individualist ideas about what he should be doingwhat he wishes he could do. Bartleby cannot respect with the orders of his employer, because if he did so he would become part of society and would get a nickname like his co-workers Bartleby would cease to exist.Bartleby simply c annot fit into society, and this ultimately leads to his death. Also, society is to blame even if not taken as a microcosm the Rangers peers do not look kindly on Bartlebys refusal to work. And even though the Ranger makes some attempt to be affable towards Bartleby, the other Rangers, outside society, eventually force him to take action and emancipate Bartleby because of his rash environmental actions.The ideas of isolation and alienation are prominent in Bartleby. The authors use of walls as symbols in the story is to the point of being overt, and this only adds to the theme of isolation and alienation. Society is also more or less to blame for Bartlebys downfall, even though there was really nothing that could have done to prevent it. They were simply incompatible and the only solacement is that Bartleby went to heaven, where he was not persecuted.