Fortunately, through the entirety of the piece, it is shown that the appropriate idea of charity is not meant to be expressed through the actions of the narrator; that, in fact, the purpose of charity lies within Bartleby. Bartleby portrays a divine presence sent to deliver a startling and profound message in an attempt to free the narrator of his materialistic and selfish hold on life.
Bartleby’s peculiar character is something of which to take note in respects to his authority as a valid benefactor of charity. Contrary to the narrator, his “steadiness, his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry… his great stillness, his unalterableness of demeanor under all circumstances (15)” makes him authenticate. Even though Bartleby refuses to do the very assignment for which he was hired, it seems as if some divine force was causes a transfer of power between the lawyer and Bartleby. This transfer of power is seen when Bartleby delivers his infamous line “I would prefer not to” for the first time and presently, “all the justice and all the reason (11)” went to him as the lawyer began to “stagger in his own plainest faith (11).” In fact, for a few moments the lawyer was “turned into a pillar of salt (11)” by the absurdity of Bartleby’s unexpected response.
The idea that the lawyer was “turned into a pillar of salt” gives much insight into Bartleby’s charity to the lawyer. This Biblical allusion – Lot’s wife looked back, seeking to cling to her luxurious life in Sodom and was destroyed in the overthrow of the city – shows precisely how Bartleby’s purpose lies in the revelation that man clings too tightly to material things. Throughout the piece, Bartleby tries to show that certain things in life do not deserve the amount of value that man gives them.
The idea of materialism dominating the lives of the lawyer and his employees is noticed, first, through the repeated reference to food. The names “Turkey” and “Gingernut” represent the more symbolic references, whereas the eating of multiple pieces of cake at a time (8), going out to lunch and dinner frequently (14), and drinking alcohol in abundance (14) show the more concrete references; it reveals that there is gluttony within these workers and that their lives have partially begun to revolve around this type of materialism. The idea is continued through the narrator’s emphasis on money. He liked the fact that Nippers “dressed in a gentlemanly sort of deportment (7)” and disliked how Turkey’s clothes “looked oily, and smelled of eating houses (7);” it displays that there is greed within this society and even if it is not an overpowering sin in their lives, it still holds too high of a priority. Bartleby illuminates this dependence of materialism by the sharp contrast in his simplistic attire and very minimal food intake. He is trying to show that if man continues this emphasis on the temporal, man will end up with nothing – the same nothing that Bartleby seems to be staring intently at in one of his “dead-wall reveries (21).”
“They err who would assert that invariably this is owing to the inherent selfishness of the human heart (18)”. Bartleby is there to show that charity, something human society deems worthy, is given with incorrect representation that is blinded by selfish motives. Instead of it being done to benefit the giver’s conscience, it should simply be done out of the act of love. The key understanding of Bartleby’s charity to the lawyer is that out of everything in life, the most important aspect to devote time and energy to, is love – “a new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another (25).”
Even though that narrator is ignorant to the fact that it was because of Bartleby that certain life-altering realizations unfold, it is because of Bartleby’s specific “eccentricities” that the narrator comes across a very profound experience when he says, “Ah happiness courts the light, so we deem the world is gay, but misery hides aloof, so we deem that misery there is none (17).” It is easy for the narrator to ignore the fact that there is sin in the world and to hide the reality of the offenses of man. Through the pain and suffering that the narrator finds Bartleby enduring, these emotions that the narrator has of “pure melancholy and sincerest pity (18)” toward Bartleby are merely representative of the same pains Bartleby has when he watches mankind. The lives of men are full of the same emptiness seen outwardly in Bartleby, yet they suffer inwardly and silently so that the world continues to appear happy and misery-free. It is only through Bartleby’s example that this truth is disclosed.
Regrettably, the narrator fails to see and receive this charity that Bartleby offers and the narrator sends Bartleby to his “Tomb” where he eventually dies of starvation. One could argue that if Bartleby were such a significantly strong character and presence in this story, it would be unreasonable for him to seemingly give up and die from lack of food. However, it is through this sacrifice that the his message resounds strongest. It shows that even when the narrator treats Bartleby with undo disrespect, Bartleby stands firm and “prefers not to quit” the narrator and will instead serve as an example for all mankind. It gives the rest of humanity a sense of hope: “he whom it would relieve nor eats nor hungers any more; pardon for those who died despairing; hope for those who died unhoping; good tidings for those who died stifled by unrelieved calamities (34).” This shows that although man is a fallible being, there is something beyond human comprehension that is willing to forgive humanity for its many mistakes. In a sense, that is the greatest charity of all.
