Bartleby, the Scrivener

Bartleby, the Scrivener:A story of wall-street By: Herman Melville The passage I chose , in the story about Bartleby, describes what he is on the inside, his soul.Melville writes,"What I saw that morning persuaded me that the scrivener was the victim of innate and incurable disorder. I might give alms to his body; but his body did not pain him; it was his soul that suffered, and his soul I could not reach" (12). Melville is a very kind man trying to give Bartleby the benefit of the doubt; but he is being pushed around by Bartleby. Bartleby is a genius, by manipulating Melville into letting him stay in his office and do no work.This is how Melville has been feeling at first, but he is now starting to realize that Bartelby is not really there, he is just a body. Bartleby has been through so much sadness that he has given up trying to live, he can not live. Bartleby is frozen in the past and will not give his future a chance. Although, Melville is trying everything to help Bartleby; he can not reason with Bartleby, because Bartleby can not change. This is a strange situation Melville is in, Melville is a trained proffesional but he can't figure out what to do with Bartleby. Bartleby's calmness, sadness, and quiteness has put a strange effect on Melville. He felt so terribly sorry for Bartleby, that he needed to help Bartleby in some way, but didn't know how; it was starting to drive Melville crazy, and he decided he could do no more for Bartleby. This is an important passage because it explains that Bartelby is not lazy and doesn't want to work; but that he can not because his soul has been wouded by his past. Melville being a kind man can not help Bartelby because Bartelby has given up on himself. Source: Melville, Herman. Bartleby, the Scriveneer: A Story of Wall-street.Bartleby.com.(2012). http://www.bartleby.com/129/ 29, June, 2012.