The Meaning of Walls in Bartleby the Scrivener narrator. The parallel between the setting and Bartleby's attributes is suggested in the description of the prison yard, where Bartleby is locked up. When Bartleby is imprisoned for vagrancy, the narrator visits him and is directed to the courtyard. The description of the courtyard reflects both Bartleby's desolate mental and social state and his passive resistance against the narrator and what he means. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The story is about Bartleby's meeting with the narrator, his employee. The narrator chooses to tolerate Bartleby's preferences as long as they do not interfere with the narrator's work; the narrator is then forced to fire Bartleby and move his office. This dismissal subsequently leads to Bartleby's arrest as a vagrant and begins the scene in the prison yard, where the narrator goes to visit him. Bartleby's isolation and desolate mental state are illustrated by the author's depiction of prison. The prison yard is surrounded by walls of “extraordinary thickness, keeping out all the sounds behind them,” and the “masonry weighs on me” (556). This description provides a powerful image of being isolated. The author also uses the image of the pyramid, known as a closed and isolated space for burials, to describe the prison and further enhance its effect. The images of confinement and isolation in the prison yard echo earlier images in the story. When Bartleby first arrives at the office, the narrator sets up a workspace for him that faces him with a view of the wall from the building next door and uses a "tall green folding screen...[to] isolate Bartleby... ."(536 ). The office environment, in which Bartleby progressively isolates himself from others by erecting a sense of walls, is taken to the extreme in the courtyard, where he achieves a form of complete isolation. It is a form of confinement that the narrator interprets as an indication of madness: "I [the narrator] think he's a little deranged" (556). There is therefore a connection between setting and state of mind. The physical setting, characterized by isolating walls and darkness, echoes Bartleby's mental state as the narrator perceives it, that is, as deranged. The setting not only reveals Bartleby's mental state but also his social status. Bartleby's position in the prison yard, isolated from the other prisoners, as stated in the passage “the yard…was not accessible to ordinary prisoners,” suggests that he has reached the pinnacle of social isolation (556). This is also reinforced by his refusal to converse with the narrator (544). Indeed, throughout the story, Bartleby has systematically distanced himself from society, an estrangement that is enacted in his treatment of space and setting. His cubicle becomes more isolated and he prefers to work alone. However, this distancing from society is not just a general distancing from the people around him; Bartleby is also isolating himself from that society's values, which are inherently capitalist and supported by the narrator. The narrator is a lawyer and a rich man who believes in the US capitalist system. Jacob Astor, America's first millionaire, is the narrator's hero. When Bartleby isolates himself through strategic spatial development, he actually refuses to follow the norms of Wall Street in the same way that he refuses to “copy” documents (546). Effectively,.

Topic > The Meaning of Walls in Bartleby the Scrivener narrator. The parallel between the setting and Bartleby's attributes is suggested in the description of the prison yard, where Bartleby is locked up. When Bartleby is imprisoned for vagrancy, the narrator visits him and is directed to the courtyard. The description of the courtyard reflects both Bartleby's desolate mental and social state and his passive resistance against the narrator and what he means. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The story is about Bartleby's meeting with the narrator, his employee. The narrator chooses to tolerate Bartleby's preferences as long as they do not interfere with the narrator's work; the narrator is then forced to fire Bartleby and move his office. This dismissal subsequently leads to Bartleby's arrest as a vagrant and begins the scene in the prison yard, where the narrator goes to visit him. Bartleby's isolation and desolate mental state are illustrated by the author's depiction of prison. The prison yard is surrounded by walls of “extraordinary thickness, keeping out all the sounds behind them,” and the “masonry weighs on me” (556). This description provides a powerful image of being isolated. The author also uses the image of the pyramid, known as a closed and isolated space for burials, to describe the prison and further enhance its effect. The images of confinement and isolation in the prison yard echo earlier images in the story. When Bartleby first arrives at the office, the narrator sets up a workspace for him that faces him with a view of the wall from the building next door and uses a "tall green folding screen...[to] isolate Bartleby... ."(536 ). The office environment, in which Bartleby progressively isolates himself from others by erecting a sense of walls, is taken to the extreme in the courtyard, where he achieves a form of complete isolation. It is a form of confinement that the narrator interprets as an indication of madness: "I [the narrator] think he's a little deranged" (556). There is therefore a connection between setting and state of mind. The physical setting, characterized by isolating walls and darkness, echoes Bartleby's mental state as the narrator perceives it, that is, as deranged. The setting not only reveals Bartleby's mental state but also his social status. Bartleby's position in the prison yard, isolated from the other prisoners, as stated in the passage “the yard…was not accessible to ordinary prisoners,” suggests that he has reached the pinnacle of social isolation (556). This is also reinforced by his refusal to converse with the narrator (544). Indeed, throughout the story, Bartleby has systematically distanced himself from society, an estrangement that is enacted in his treatment of space and setting. His cubicle becomes more isolated and he prefers to work alone. However, this distancing from society is not just a general distancing from the people around him; Bartleby is also isolating himself from that society's values, which are inherently capitalist and supported by the narrator. The narrator is a lawyer and a rich man who believes in the US capitalist system. Jacob Astor, America's first millionaire, is the narrator's hero. When Bartleby isolates himself through strategic spatial development, he actually refuses to follow the norms of Wall Street in the same way that he refuses to “copy” documents (546). Effectively,.