Bartleby and the lawyer... connection???

A question one is likely to have after reading Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville is: Why was the lawyer so nice to Bartleby?  While there is no definite explanation in the story, the simple answer would be that the lawyer felt sorry for Bartleby.  However, this brings up the question: Why does he feel sorry for Bartleby? This a good question, considering Bartleby's behavior made life much more difficult for the lawyer.  he stopped him from entering his office early in the morning.  He angered the other employees.  He openly refused to do anything except copy for the lawyer, and he not leave the office until the police forced him out. I think the reason that the lawyer felt sorry for Bartelby is that he could relate to him.  Bartleby was lonely, without any family and isolated from the rest of society.  He was focused on his work, but rarely did anything else.  Similarly, the lawyer is isolated in his office.  In the entire story, he does not really mention doing anything other than work, and he has no acquaintances or family mentioned other than his employees.  At the beginning of the story, he says "I am a man who from his youth upwards has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best....  I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury or in any way draws public applause...(pg 642, 43 - par. 3)."  Like Bartleby, he has little motivation and does little interaction with other people.  He sees Bartelby's situation as similar to his; therefore, he feels sorry for him.