Bartleby oh bartleby

"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."
Text source: http://www.bartleby.com/129/ paragraph 89

In this week, we have read Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street by Herman Melville. Throughout this text, Melville explains his long extablished lawfirm in the 1850's. He describes in great detail his employees and the work they do. After all that, he happens upon a man named Bartleby, whom he employes within his lawfirm as a scrivener. Throughout the text, Melville goes round and round with Bartleby because of one simple phrase, I would prefer not to.
The passage above is a dirrect quote from the text. Melville's expierence with Bartleby is a very excentric one. At first, he is very good at doing his job, copying the last days sessions. however at one point, Bartleby decides to no longer write. He gives no reason for stoping writing, simply that he would prefer not to. After discovering that Bartleby lives within his offices, Melville simply asks the man to leave. Bartleby having not said more than 5 words at a time since he has come to him, simply stays living there, all the while, Melville continues to try to get bartleby out. Finnaly, having enough of this nonscence, Melville moves out of the offices, and takes up residence within another place. Finally the story ends with Bartleby dying in the prison which he was taken to after the new tenants took up residence.
The passage mad me think, much like the rest of the story did, that Melville was a very decent man. To  allow someone to live within your residence with out producing anything of value is a very noble trait. I then realized that Melville is looking at Bartleby as a son of Adam. He is a simple human being with nowhere else to go in the world. Melville attempts to "save" Bartleby's soul since he apears to be a shell of a man to anyone who sees him. In my opinion, Melville is seeing Bartleby as a form of humanity.
He states many times throughout the text that there is not much charity throughout the world. In this instance, he is giving Bartleby a plac to live out of charity. I believe that he is simply trying to save the man, having no realitives or loved ones to speak of.
Unfortunately, at the end, Melville, despite his efforts, could not save humanity, and allows it to die. Despite his niceness towards humanity, and all his efforts, he simply couldnt save this one soul.

Image source: http://www.biography.com/people/herman-melville-9405239