Why are there so many walls in our lives? Every building has outer-walls that form the perimeter of the foundation. Inside that building there are walls that divide the floor into rooms, and even in each room we put up walls to divide the room to fit its purpose. A wall s purpose is to enclose, divide, or protect, they really do more than this. Do we build all these walls to protect us from the elements, like rain and cold, and to organize our lives better, or because we want to limit our interaction with other social beings and become more individualistic. In the short story Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street, Herman Melville explores the relationship between the individual and society through the use of walls and how his characters react to them. The more walls that are in a person s life the more deviant they become; this isolation and resulting deviant behavior will lead to a tragic downfall.
The narrator of the story describes the office chambers with vivid detail. Through this descriptions we can see who represents society and who is the individual. We can see that there are two windows in the office, both of which face the walls of other buildings. The narrator describes the view as deficient in what landscape painters call life. In contrast, one window gave off a white light that came from the sun even though the sun never shined in this window directly; the other window opened to a brick wall that was blackened with age and lack of direct sunlight. This part of the room, with a white light shining in on one side and a black darkness on the other, it is a scaled model of our society, and it is in this part of the office that the three employees: Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut work. The remaining part of the office chamber is divided by ground glass folding doors from the employee s part. The narrator occupies this division and opens and closes the dividing doors at his will. When Bartleby is hired he is given a corner by the folding doors but on the side of the narrator not with the other employees. In this corner is a small side window that originally had afforded a lateral view of certain grimy back-yards and bricks, but which, owing to subsequent erections, commanded at present no view at all, though it gave some light. Within three feet of the panes was a wall . The narrator then further isolates Bartleby by placing a high green folding screen around him to hide him from his view but not keep him from his voice. From this description we see that by far, Bartleby has the most interaction with walls and the least amount of interaction with other people. He is completely surrounded by walls; the only opening is a window that looks upon yet another wall.
The Essay on Divide Your Life Into 3 5 Major Periods
Divide your life into 3-5 major periods. As I look back upon my past, it gets scary because I can actually divide my life into parts. If I look at it on the bright side, I am a more mature person. On the other hand, if I look at it negatively, I am getting closer to my 'grave'. But the truth is that I am better off looking at my life at the brighter side. I have considered myself fortunate than ...
Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut are a scaled model of society. On an individual basis, not a one of them would be wholly useful. Turkey is useless once he has had his mid-morning meal because he indulges in alcohol. Nippers on the other hand had terrible indigestion and was useless in the morning hours until he was able to take his mid-morning meal to calm his stomach. Ginger Nut, the young office boy, was also unable to make the office function on his own. Society functions because it works as a whole; it takes many people, who alone would be unable to sustain our way of life. The interaction that these men have with the walls is limited to the so called white window and black window and the corresponding walls outside of them, and the ground glass folding doors that the narrator opens and closes depending on his mood. Their interact with walls far less than Bartleby.
The Essay on Deviant behavior 2
Part A Behavior that is outside of the normally accepted parameters of society is considered deviant behavior. Deviant behavior can range from running a traffic signal to capital murder. The widely accepted norm of society declares these things to be unacceptable. What may be the normal accepted behavior in one society may be different for another. Deviant behavior is dictated by culture and ...
It is because of the many walls that surround Bartleby, and their isolation that they suggest, that he begins to prefer not to do what is required of him. When he first arrives at the office, he writes like he has been without something to write for a long time. He is trying to do what is expected of him; he is trying to conform to society. Yet, he makes this hermitage behind the green screen his home. He never leaves it during the business day and we find out later in the story that he never leaves it at night either. The narrator has placed him here and it is here that he intends to stay, he would prefer not to make any changes. His hermitage s only view is this window with the wall only three feet from the glass. It is this view of life, which is forced upon him by the narrator, which begins to hypnotize him and cause him to withdrawal from society. He cannot leave his hermitage to compare papers and eventually cannot continue to write because this wall beyond the window demands his attentions. He becomes the retreatist in what is called the Structural Strain Theory of deviant behavior. He has the goals of society forced upon him and when he cannot live up to them because of distractions he gives up on attaining the goals and retreats from society. Bartleby becomes an individual because of the walls society has placed before him, but to be truly an individual you have to display some form of deviant behavior.
For this deviant behavior Bartleby is removed to the Tombs. This is the Halls of Justice as it is called in the story. A hallway has walls on both sides and they lead into rooms, which consist of yet more walls. From the title of this place we can be sure that there will be some important walls here. The Tombs contain what I call the final-wall. When the narrator sees Bartleby again he is standing alone staring at a high wall. He them moves closer to the dead-wall when the narrator leaves. When we next see him he is dead at the base of the dead-wall. This becomes Bartleby s final wall. This wall shows him that his deviant behavior is not rewarded and that in being an individual you must die alone. When Bartleby dies his head is touching the dead-wall and he eyes are open looking at it.
The Essay on Diversity Paper Impact Individual Behavior
Introduction Diversity refers to the presence of individual human characteristics that make people different from one another (Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn, 2005). Among these individual human characteristics are demographic differences, such as age, gender, sexual-orientation, , race and ethnicity, and religion. Diversity and demographic differences can impact individual behavior by creating ...
To truly become an individual there must be a departure from society. This departure is deviant behavior, but sociology teaches us that there can be no deviance without first conforming to society. Without something to rebel against there can be no rebel. So, is it society s secret purpose to force us to become individuals so that we might perish? As we can see in this story, those that never become individuals live on. Truly, humanity has created mixed messages in this. Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!
