Most people know who they are, their inner-self, but sometimes one encounter with the simplest of man can change your entire existence. In Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street," the author depicts the life or lack there of, of two men, Bartleby and the lawyer-narrator. Through an employee's demise, an unknowing employer gains a new life. The narrator's goal is to recount a story about Bartleby, "the strangest [scrivener] I ever saw or heard of"(Melville 1148). Through the lawyer's narration, he reveals more about himself than he does about Bartleby. By means of his two lonely characters, Melville portrays the destructive effects of isolation and the need for social companionship.

The title character in "Bartleby the Scrivener" lives a desolate and isolated life. The lawyer states, "While of other law copyists, I might write the compete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done" (1148). The lawyer's statement shows that Bartleby is clearly void of life. Not in the physical sense: breathing, eating, and sleeping, but in the emotional sense. He lacks the notion of living life to the fullest. Critics say that he is so deeply remov

As the walls symbolize Bartleby, they also must symbolize the narrator. The difference between the two characters is that the lawyer has doors within his "walls." Where as Bartleby lives and "interacts" with the office walls, the narrator leaves his office for home every night. The lawyer is aware that the walls are meaningless. He describes them as being "deficient in what landscape painters call 'life'" (1149). The lawyer is aware of the fact that the walls exist, but he does not fixate on them as Bartleby does. The lawyer does eventually become aware of the bizarre way that Bartleby stares at the walls, and he fixates on Bartleby's "dead wall reveries." The walls become a symbol for Bartleby, and Bartleby becomes a symbol for the narrator. Perhaps, soon the walls will also become a symbol for the narrator. The lawyer is not yet void of "emotional life," but he is void of social companionship. He is at what was perhaps the first stage of Bartleby's condition: complete isolation. Since the lawyer is not in as deep of a state of isolation as Bartleby was, he is left with some hope for a new future.

Bartleby may appear to have no purpose in life, but in fact, he possesses the power to give the lawyer a new beginning. Bartleby's persistent actions reflect his life-changing abilities. Bartleby's lack of conversation ironically breaks through to reach the inner emotions of the lawyer. "For the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me.... The bond of common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom" (1160). For the first time in nearly sixty years, the lawyer has entered a deep social relationship. Perhaps the lawyer is saddened because he does see himself in Bartleby and that he is headed for such a bleak existence. Michael Morris points out that while "growing used to Bartleby's amazing tenacity, [the lawyer] feels that Bartleby has been 'billeted upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all-wise Providence.'" Bartleby's refusal to depart from the office even after being asked to leave shows that perhaps his unconscious mind knows that his purpose in life is to give the narrator a new future. Sadly, the new future cannot be reached until the fate of Bartleby is complete. The narrator's change is apparent when he comm

Some common words found in the essay are:
Michael Morris, Bartleby Bartleby, Providence' Bartleby's, Bartleby Scrivener, Wall Street, Dan McCall, Life-Changing Encounter, Herman Melville's, dead brick, brick wall, 1149 lawyer, life bartleby, dead brick wall, lawyer deep isolation, bartleby answers prefer, bartleby person phantom, bartleby bartleby, bartleby person, bartleby chooses, machine-like qualities, social contact, lawyer aware walls, person phantom,
Approximate Word count = 1544
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)