Bartleby, the Scrivener

The short short story that I read about labor was entitled Bartleby, the Scrivener. The story took place in the mid to late 1800's and is told through the perspective of a retired lawyer from a Manhattan law firm. This lawyer was looking back at his life to tell the story of the "strangest man he[I] has[have] ever known", Bartleby. Bartleby was hired at the law firm that the narrator worked at as a scrivener, someone who is to recodrd what happenes durining the trials. The firm already have two scriveners, but neither of them were capable so a third was needed. Bartleby started as a very good employee, and gave the firm great work, but over time, he started to lose interest. Bartleby, over time, started to "prefer not" to do things that were asked of him. This led to him not doing anything at all, reguarding work or otherwise. When the law firm moved locations, Bartleby prefered not to move with it, so he stayed in an empty building. When he was kicked out of the building he needed to be arrested because he prefered not to move. Bartleby then ended up dying in jail due him prefering not to eat any food. At the very end of the storey, the narrator begins to see life the way Bartleby must have. The narrator closes the story with the line "Ah, Bartleby! Ah, humanity!". I believe that in this story, Bartleby was depressed. He had no motivation in the work place that eventually led into his entire life. Depression in the workplace can be very harmful to the rest of one's life. Had the narrator not displayed so much generosity, Bartleby most likely would have lost his job, which if possible would have made him more depressed.