Theme in Melville’s “Bartleby,

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…struggle between Bartleby and the lawyer, or is it better to state, between the walls of silence and the walls of non-understanding? The actions shown in the story represent more of the spiritual struggle than a struggle on a level of physical existence. The alienation is on the mental level more than on any other level. The walls of silence are actually the terror of limitation and only the scream of humanity can conquer them.