"Men have committed murder for jealousy's sake, and anger's sake, and hatred's sake, and selfishness' sake, and a spiritual pride's sake; but no man that ever I heard of ever committed a diabolical murder for sweet charity's sake" (page 666).
This story was annoying beyond belief. Bartleby would not tell his boss why he would not obey him. He just kept saying, "I would prefer not to." And why would he hide in the the office itself? Was he homeless? Does he act this way because he's lonely? He is deranged psychologically? I don't know; I am just so confused... However, it is a wonderful feeling to know that Bartleby cannot ever be asked to do anything; he just does things out of the goodness of his heart. He does things because he wants to, not because he was asked to do so. Maybe this is how we as a society should live. We should live to do service to help the benefit of others. We should do things because we WANT to, not because we were forced or asked to do so. Our works become so much more meaningful when we do them without getting recognition. I think that this is how Bartleby is. He works very hard for the benefit of the company, but he does things because he wants to. The company represents society and how we must work to benefit the needs of others before the desires of our own. I also think that it is significant that Bartleby works behind a screen door. We are called to serve without having others notice what is going on. We should live like no one is watching us, like no is going to give us praise or recognition for what we have done. Our works then seem twice as heart-felt and meaningful when we do not care who gets the credit. I feel that I might have interpreted this entire the wrong way, but this is how I took it.
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