Conformity versus Isolationism

Among this group of short stories and poems, The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock, Bartleby the Scrivener, Miniver Cheevy, The Yellow Wallpaper, and
Pauls Case, there is one common thread, the problem of conformity.
What is at issue is, simply, to what degree individual differences are
permitted, in what practical measures the doctrine of individual
freedom is upheld (Norman 23). As Prufrock or Paul look to solve their
personal problems, they find conforming to be an impossible task,
because they find it unbearable to live within the confines of society.
When these characters are faced with the choice of conformity or
isolation, some take the harder path and embrace solitude. Others
manage a life that is overwhelmed by the depression of not fitting into
society, and as a result, they are faced with the difficulty of living in a society to
which they do not want to belong, yet cannot live without. While the characters final
choices, to stumble through life in a deep depression or to isolate themselves completely
from society, may be different, the steps that they take are almost identical.
As the characters move down the path towards isolation, they are always initially
sparked by the problems that they have conforming to the ideals of accepted society.
Elisabeth Schneider reiterates this point clearly in an excerpt from her commentary on
T.S. Elliots work The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, where she writes, At its most
abstract level it does ask a central question, Is inner change possible? and answers No,
not anyhow for Prufrock or his kind (Schneider 1103). It is interesting that she includes
the reference to Prufrocks kind, because we are all influenced by the same fear of

conformity that Prufrock faces, but it is only Prufrocks kind that is influenced to such
an extreme by this fear. Prufrock may stand alone in his inactivity, but that is not his fault,
because there is clearly something inherently different inside of him that prevents him
from moving past his fears and conforming to society. It is not that Prufrock does not see
what he needs to do in order to be accepted. Although Prufrock continuously repeats the
question, And how should I presume? (Elliot Line 61), he knows that there is only one
way to presume, but he cannot bear the thought of conforming, so he continues to look
for a solution that does not exist.
This is no different than Pauls dilemma, because just as Prufrock cannot face the
societal norm of relationships, Paul cannot face the societal norm of life in general.
The moment he turned into Cordelia Street he felt the waters close
above his head. After each of these orgies of living he experienced all
the physical depression which follows a debauch; the loathing of
respectable beds, of common food, of a house penetrated by kitchen
odors; a shuddering repulsion for the flavorless, colorless mass of
everyday existence; a morbid desire for cool things and soft lights and
fresh flowers. (Cather 453)
Paul and Prufrock are two simple examples of the dysfunctional nature of Prufrocks
kind in accepted society.
The next step that each of the characters take toward their inevitable isolation is
the mental creation and imagination of a world in which their life choices are accepted. In
Pauls Case, Pauls nature is so extremely suppressed by his father and his school that he
relies solely on the joy that he feels in the theater to help him bear the depression of his

banal life. Although, in Pauls situation, the theater is not an imagination, it is still an
impossible option for Paul, and therefore it is worse than a figment of his imagination. If
the theater had been inside his head, no one could have taken it away from him, and he
could have stayed ignorant of the impossibility of his desires forever. Instead when his
father takes the theater away from him, he no longer has any desire to live, and he
concludes that he will trade the rest of a monotonous life for a few days of splendor in
New York. While Paul manifests his choice to be an individual in a physical manner,
Miniver Cheevy uses a mental release to deal with his fear of conformity to society.
Although Miniver does not die by the end of the poem, like Paul, the result of Miniver
repressing his feelings of isolation in society is just as detrimental to his life. At least Paul
is able to live the last days of his life on his own terms, whereas Miniver is forced to live
with his depression for the rest of his life. Miniver coughed, and called it fate, [a]nd kept
on drinking (Robinson Line 31). None of the characters whose desires contrast so
extremely with accepted society are able to conform, and as a result, they end up creating
their own outlet, which is unhealthy in any form, because it is not reality.
Once the characters have come to terms with the fact that their desires are not
achievable within the acceptable social norms, they begin to procrastinate and regret their
inaction. Many times the thing that they regret is beyond their reach or something
inherent to their character, and therefore virtually impossible to correct. Miniver, for
example, believed that he was born too late (Robinson Line 29), but that was not his
decision and cannot be changed by him. Paul regrets being born on Cordelia Street,
where it is impossible for him to follow his dream. The narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper
regrets having a baby and being forced into her current life. She wants to change, And

yet I [she] cannot be with him [her baby], it makes me [her] so nervous (Gilman 317).
Even Bartleby, whose thoughts the reader can only surmise, regrets his current position in
life and therefore has been transformed into a useless blob. A common trait can be seen
throughout these examples, and that is the regret of their current life. The tragedy of this
type of regret is that it is the hardest to overcome. The characters do not regret one
decision that they made that can be easily reversed. Instead, thye regret the entirety of
their decisions and predispositions that have forced them to lead such a boring life. In
general, it is very hard to change ones entire position in life, and that is a battle that is
ultimately lost by every single one of these main characters.
Before moving on to the defeat of each of the characters, the influence of the
complete isolation that they must eventually face must be addressed. Once they have
quarantined themselves from the rest of society, there is nothing for them to hold onto
except for their ephemeral dreams and desires. Once they are inevitably gone, there is
nowhere for the character to hide from their greatest fears of reality. Bartleby is a great
example of isolation with a lack of desire, because his desire is completely unproductive
behavior and that is the opposite of the social norm. Therefore, he cannot survive.
The Lawyer represents authority, not political or moral authority,
but that of common usage. His expectations are the legitimate,
reasonable, normal expectations of a western and commercial
society Bartleby represents resistance, maddening because it
has no apparent purpose. (Norman 24-25)

He has lost all desire for whatever it is that caused him to function in society before and
has been transformed into a man without a purpose. Men like that cannot live in modern
society.
Is it a coincidence that two of these poems and short stories end in death, one in
insanity, one in a drinking problem, and one in a deep self-loathing and lack of
confidence? The end results of these short stories and poems are tragic, which can only
be attributed to the process, outlined above, of the transformation from conformity to
isolation. Each character that is Prufrocks kind must make a choice to either isolate
himself or to try to live in a society that does not accept him. It is clear that there is no
way for these characters to conform, so they must live and follow their own desires, like
Paul and Bartleby, and die as a result, or drown (Elliot Line 131) in the monotonous
life of public society.

Works Cited
Cather, Willa. "Paul's Case." Great American Short Stories. Ed. Corinne Demas and Ed.
Virginia Faulkner. 1st. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1970. 448-467.
Print.
Elliot, T.S. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Poetry . 6.3 (1915): 130-135. Web. 15
Mar. 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20570428 .
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Great American Short Stories. Ed.
Corinne Demas and Ed. Denise D. Knight. 1st. Newark: University of Delaware
Press, 1994. 314-330. Print.
Melville, Herman. "Bartleby the Scrivener." Great American Short Stories. Ed. Corinne
Demas and Ed. Egbert S. Oliver. 1st. New York: Hendricks House, 1948. 109144. Print.
Norman, Liane. "Bartleby and the Reader." New England Quarterly. 44.1 (1971): 22-39.
Web. 15 Mar. 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/364941 .
Robinson, Edwin Arlington. Miniver Cheevy. Poetry X. Ed. Jough Dempsey. 19 Dec
2004. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/8989/ .

Schneider, Elisabeth. "Prufrock and After: The Theme of Change." PMLA . 87.5 (1972):
1103-1118. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/461187 .