Isolation at Bartleby the Scrivener "I'd rather not", "I'd rather not", tells the reader about Bartleby's isolation. The sentence shows his lack of involvement, another form of isolation. The narrator tells the reader exactly what he did to Bartleby, very vividly, as shown below. In the short story, the author tells the reader, in great detail, what he did to Bartleby to isolate him from the world. He tells us in this passage: "I placed his desk near a small side window in this part of the room, a window which originally offered a side view of some filthy backyards and bricks , but which, due to untimely construction, , ordered now, no view at all, although it gives some light. Three feet from the panes was a wall, and the light came down from far above between two tall buildings, as if from a very small opening in a dome. following a satisfactory arrangement, I procured a green screen, which could entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, without, however, keeping him from my voice. The quote describes how the narrator isolates Bartleby from society. Even his window, usually a form of escape, causes Bartleby to find himself trapped behind another wall, reinforcing his total isolation. The irony lies in the fact that the narrator, while trying to isolate Bartleby, is affected by it, to the point of appearing almost human. Instead of firing him on the spot for refusing to copy, proofread or leave the premises, he tries to find him another job, and even considers inviting him to live in his residence as a guest. The narrator transforms before our eyes into a caring person, very different from the cold and unsympathetic person at the beginning of the story. “Befriending Bartleby, amusing him in his strange obstinacy, will cost me little or nothing, while I store up in my soul what will eventually prove a sweet morsel for my conscience.” The narrator would normally befriend Bartleby or any other "asshole", but Bartleby gave him a conscience. The narrator realized that a common flaw in a person does not determine the person. At the beginning of the story, the narrator only cared about his job, but now he realizes that people have lives outside of work, except Bartleby..