We have to wonder if the dead letters are what made Bartleby what he is, or if he was drawn to them by his own inalienable nature. No, we're not referring to the popular NBC sitcom here, even though, now that we think of it, The Office does have a more than a few things in common with "Bartleby the Scrivener" Dwight Schrute certainly rivals Bartleby in weirdness.
The office as a space for human relationships is a central symbol in Melville's story — and, again, in Steve Carell's show — and Melville uses the space as a kind of odd experimental ground, upon which he tests the limits of personal interaction. This is highlighted by the fact that we really don't see any of the characters outside the office.
Sure, the Narrator, Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut must all go somewhere after work, but we don't know anything about their home lives. Instead, we just witness the trivial, often impersonal ways in which they communicate with each other in the workplace.
Melville also touches upon an important cultural reference that his contemporary readers would have picked up on immediately, the murder of Samuel Adams by John Colt.
This scandalous event, which took place in a deserted office, lurks in the background of Melville's tale; as the Narrator comments, there's something about the strangely impersonal, limbo space of the office that may have allowed that tragic event to take place.
With this in mind, we have to keep thinking about the significance of setting and the role of the office itself in "Bartleby. The Walls symbolizes the proverbial "end" of Bartleby's existence. It also symbolizes the end of what Bartleby can "see", the limits of his own life and how those limits are his downfall. The Wall also symbolizes the end of the narrators' perspective on Bartleby, the human enigma. The Wall is a symbol for everything that Bartleby is as a person.
Bartleby is a human enigma. He is described at first as having an insatiable appetite for his work, copying folders as if "long famishing for something to copy". However, he began to fade, in a way. He would say "I prefer not to", and his work began to suffer. He also took to staring emptily at the wall outside of his office window. The wall was blank, uninteresting, "commanded at present no view at all"; however he just started at it as though seeing some deeper meaning to its existence.
Crooks is left out of card games and he has to sleep in a different room from all of the other characters. When people try to have a conversation with him they fell weirded out and uncomfortable. Crooks cope with loneliness because he has nobody to be with which. His actions lead him to refuse all requests including eating, and after he is sent to prison, he soon dies. Bartleby is a passive transcendentalist, he uses civil disobedience to deny societal duties, but this is his downfall.
He is so passive, he allows himself to go to jail and die. Works Cited Anderson, Walter E. He did not believe in school because all you need to know to live is not found in a book that you read at school.
He believed that you learned by living out in the wild. Huck would rather be an individual than conform to society. Huck would rather follow his heart then his head and because of this Huck is ruled as a bad person because in society your suppose to use your head. Huck is being penalized for his beliefs and he does not want to be apart of a lifestyle that does not support his ways. However, Gregor does not realizes this until he turns into a beetle who no longer can work, but to stay in his room.
Kafka uses Gregor to represent that existentialism can not be seen until something physically happens.
Although Kafka presents Gregor as an indif His relationship to the narrator is thus significant, for as he attempts to exercise his freewill he is breaking from the will of the narrator and the normal progression of life. However, this attempt to exercise his freewill and break loose from the confines of typical societal functions, isolates Bartleby from society, which in turn places him in a state of depression and soon there after, death.
If man attempts to break free of his role and exercise his own freewill then he is severing himself from humanity which in turn will lead to depression and perhaps death, for he will have nothing but a wall always obstructing him.
From the beginning Bartleby is isolated within the confines of his work place. Huck was not raised in accordance or the accepted ways of civilization at the time, in fact, he faces many aspects of society which end up making him choose his own individuality over civilization. In a sense, he raises himself.
He relies on his instincts and skills he learns from other people to guide him throughout his life. Twain depicts a theme of how civilization and the ethics of a society can conflict with individuality. Huck is a social outcast because he has been out on his own and reared from a drunken father and no mother. Werle uses the strategy of cynicism towards living a life without duties and Hjalmar, the dreamer, consumes time by dawdling over affairs that seem non-existent or trivial.
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