Chapter 6 of “A Room of One’s Own” begins with Woolf observing a man and woman entering a cab together. Already, we can see the smallest things that Woolf utilizes to express her themes. From this small action of entering a taxi, Woolf conveys the soothing it brings upon her soul. A man and a woman, together, conveys a sense of unity and harmony that ultimately soothes Woolf. She knows for for gender equality in literature, something similar to the man and woman entering the taxi together must happen, but on a larger scale.

This sight leads into the narrator speaking on how one sex cannot exist without the other. For ultimate harmony, men should be accepted as are and women should be accepted as are. There isn’t room for the many gender roles society creates. Men and women should be able to live in peace and write and feel freely, without typical “manliness” or “too feminine” judgements.

Men and women both have fears, especially when it comes to writing. If they could work together, writing fiction freely could be in reach. The narrator argues that fiction is suffering because of the constant struggle of gender consciousness. Whether the gender is fearing inferiority or a loss of superiority, with these fears present, how can either gender reach their full writing potential? The gender consciousness hinders both sexes greatly. One example of this is when the narrator opens up Italian literature. The work was written during Fascist times, and has a masculine undertone to it. She expresses it as “too masculine” and states that the anxiety it gives off comes from inability for men and women to compose literature at peace, especially during a fascist time period. Woolf then expresses that gender superiority and inferiority don’t exist too significantly. The real value is subjective and Woolf then proposes her readers decide a work’s worth on their own.

Bartleby the Scrivener focuses upon a law firm and the behavior of one of the copyists at this law firm, Bartleby. Bartleby, whose motto is “I would prefer not to,” is the main character of this short story. The other characters- Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger- function mainly to show the lawyer’s acceptance of peoples differences and their quirks. Though the lawyer is accepting, acceptance of Bartleby’s “I would prefer not to” is a bigger task than the other workers differences. The setting being on Wall Street of New York encompasses a major part of the story’s central point. While in one of the biggest cities of the world, where people are always around other people, always moving, Bartleby still manages to be alienated inside an office. Readers don’t learn much about any of the character’s personal lives, it is strictly how they behave in this New York City office.

Walls are used multiple times to symbolize certain things and feelings. On first glance, it can be interpreted that the walls represent being trapped. The capitalist economy in which everyone partakes in conveys a feeling of economic and financial imprisonment. Brick walls surround the office, which also acts as Bartleby’s home, so a feeling of helplessness is fully expected. His failure to complete his work is a resistance to this capitalist economy. Though it may be a weak resistance, it is indeed an opposition. Upon Bartleby’s death, it becomes known that in the past, Bartleby worked for the Dead Letter Office. The narrator wonders if this is what drove Bartleby to behave the way he did, working such a depressing job.

The lawyers compassion for Bartleby is of great significance in this story. The fact that he went to the prison to visit Bartleby says a lot about his character. He continuously offered Bartleby places to reside, as long as he would leave the office for professional reasons. Bartleby wouldn’t comply so the lawyer had no choice but to reach out to the police. He still cared for Bartleby, though, and his sympathy in this story is a central role to Bartleby’s development.