Compassion is an innate quality that is found within human nature, and is expressed to those in the form of a helping hand to people who are financially and emotionally troubled. However, each individual may have a different limit towards the amount of compassion that one can show to another being. In Herman Melville's story, "Bartleby, the Scrivener", Melville is showing the reader that each individual does have a limit, when it comes to expressing compassion towards other beings. Melville also shows that this limit is different for each individual, when he talks about how each of the characters interact with Bartleby.

The story of "Bartleby, the Scrivener" begins with the narrator identifying himself as a man who is "filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is best". This very attitude towards life in general, suggests that

Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc.,

The narrator's 'safe' zone is again challenged, when he learns that the landlord had called the police to take away Bartleby. The narrator, who for most of his life was considered to be an "eminently safe man" (2330), goes to the Tombs to see Bartleby. This shows that he is again pushing the limit of his compassion in order to provide comfort to a man that he hardly knows. The narrator is again going out of his way to ensure that Bartleby is properly taken care off. He says, "I narrated all I knew [about Bartleby to the functionary], and closed by suggesting the idea of letting him remain in as indulged confinement as possible till something less harsh might be done" (2353). This act goes beyond what many people would do for someone in need, and therefore one should respect and admire the type of person that the narrator has become.

Melville, Herman. "Bartleby, the Scrivener." The Norton Anthology of American

There is no doubt that the narrator is a compassionate person because he puts up with the antics of his employees. One of his employees is an old man named Turkey, who handles himself well in the morning, but in the afternoon becomes insolent. Any other person would have fired Turkey, when he becomes insolent towards his fellow workers and clients, but the narrator generally leaves him alone. One can conclude that the narrator is weak, and being a 'safe' man, he decides to let things be the same in order to prevent a conflict, but this is an incorrect conclusion. The narrator could have fired Turkey, which would have prevented a conflict as well as resolving the issue regarding Turkey's attitude, but the narrator chooses to keep Turkey.

However, the narrator does make a connection with Bartleby in the scene where he realizes that Bartleby has been living in the office. He says, "for the first time in my life a feeling of overpowering stinging melancholy seized me. Before, I had never experienced aught but a not-unpleasing sadness. The bond of a common humanity now drew me irresistibly to gloom. A fraternal melancholy! For both I and Bartleby were sons of Adam" (2341). This is an important scene because now that he has made a connection with Bartleby, he goes beyond his 'safe' zone and becomes more compassionate towards the needs of Bartleby.

Furthermore, when Bartleby refuses to leave the premises, the narrator packs his things and moves to another area. This is humorous because he is the one who is moving, since Bartleby refuses to leave. The narrator could have had Bartleby thrown into jail, or he could have kicked him out, but chose not to. Many people would think that the narrator is weak because he does not throw Bartleby out, but instead moves his office to another location to accommodate Bartleby, and avoid a confrontation. The narrator says to himself, "you will not thrust him, the poor, pale, passive mortal - you will not thrust such a helpless creature out of your door?" The narrator realizes that he would rather let Bartleby "live and die" in the office, instead of throwing him out. In the same line of reasoning, the narrator says to himself, "you will not have him collared by a constable, and commit his innocent pallor to the common jail" (2349). Therefore, he still remains compassionate towards Bartleby, while at the same time he leave

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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)