Bartleby the Scrivener

      "At one end they looked upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft, penetrating the building from top to bottom. This view might have been considered rather tame than otherwise, deficient in what landscape painters call “life.” But if so, the view from the other end of my chambers offered, at least, a contrast, if nothing more. In that direction my windows commanded an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and everlasting shade; which wall required no spy-glass to bring out its lurking beauties, but for the benefit of all near-sighted spectators, was pushed up to within ten feet of my window panes. Owing to the great height of the surrounding buildings, and my chambers being on the second floor, the interval between this wall and mine not a little resembled a huge square cistern" (pg. 5).
     I believe this is important to the overall text because it describes the life of any working business man in 1853. It shows how dull and sorta depressing life was back then. "Life" in that time era consist of working. Surrounded by white walls, in chambers, black by age and everlasting shade shows how dull life was. I believe this quote emphasizes how work was back then, and how Bartleby made a change in this story. Your life was devoted to work, and you had no say in what goes on. Until, Bartleby shows up and brings life to work. He isn't afraid to stand up for himself and for what he thinks is right. He made something out of himself and impacted someones life. Even though being trapped in a depressing state, Bartleby stood out. He brought color to a sad life, because he wasn't a typical "cookie cutter" business man. This quote contributes to the overall text because it shows that you can't escape the life of working, and everyday is another day devoted to working, fading and dying away. 

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