The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

It is time for the final push of the last two sections. This week we are discussing the penultimate section of the novel. It consists of SEVEN (69 - 75) chapters. Please post your thoughts below.

Well, from epic to individual, from panoramic to personal, Dickens again returns to the familiar ground with our long-gone friends. And I should confess it does create a certain feeling of comfort. And he is starting to pick up the loose ends, I can see the ending is coming.

Well, first Dennis, he is a despicable individual - he not only plans to use ladies for his own profit (and they are already hostages), but he easily betrays his former cohorts. Despite the general depressive mood of this episode, the linguistic gems created by Dennis and Miss Miggs are truly memorable. His 'Wenus' and her 'Ally Looyer' as well as her humongous compound modifier 'a toiling, moiling, constant-working, always-being-found-fault-with, never-giving-satisfactions, nor-having-no-time-to-clean-oneself, potter's wessel' take a special place in Dickens creative linguistic treasure-trove!

Now, Mr. Willet is in a certain shock about the return of his son and his mutilation caused by his injury. Whether this state of bewilderment was caused by him being harassed and attacked by the mob or a certain disability is still a question, but the state of his stupefaction is unbelievably believable. And I find it uplifitng that Dickens addressed the issues of disability and its social acceptance in the 18 th century, well, at least in the plot of this novel.

Now the biggest surprise is the revelation story, delivered to Mr. Chester by Mr. Varden about his son, Hugh, who was sired by Mr. Chester. And guess what, the knight pretends that he does not understand what is being told. And I really like the word 'knight' that Dickens used to describe Mr. Chester. What a brilliant understatement!
The only thing that worries me that poor Barnaby is in prison and expects death sentence. Was the government so merciless and so cruel as to punish a truly misguided young boy? Let's hope for the best, but Barnaby's words sound somewhat fatalistic, and his look is ethereal.

I have not read all the chapters for this week, but am getting now also a little annoyed with the lack of consistency. Yesterday, I wanted to mention the disappearance of Mr. Chester in the previous thread. Lynnm, you had a good comment on the lack of appearance of the characters. Now I am a little at a loss here. Dolly and Ms Haredale get saved, but Miss Miggs, previously being mentioned in the scene with Dennis, is not named any more. So what is she doing?
And when did Barnaby find his mother again or vice versa? I thought the blind man had seen her being weak and ill and all of a sudden she is visiting her imprisoned son.
Maybe I just missed something - not being very concentrated on reading lately - but it just seems strange and out of context.

However, one thing I liked was Dolly's suspicions against Gashford. Similarly to the scene with Mr Chester flattering her mother, she recognizes the possible deceit and warns Ms Haredale. She is after all not just a pretty girl, and I must admit I was not a real fan of her, especially after the famous scene with Joe Willet.

And here are this week's running titles:

Ch. 69: The blind man brought. Doubtful behaviour of Mr Dennis. Mr Dennis successful.
Ch. 70: Mr Dennis wheedles Miss Miggs.
Ch. 71: Still in captivity. Self-assertion in Miss Miggs. An Ambassador without credentials.
Ch. 72: The Black Lion a long way off. Mr Willet gets it at last.
Ch. 73: The Tables turned on the rioters. Barnaby and his mother. Husband and Wife.
Ch. 74: It is coming home to the Hangman. The Hangman justifies himself.
Ch. 75: A Visitor to Sir John Chester - on a disagreeable errand - which he states plainly.

I agree with Hedi, I couldn't figure out how Barnaby and his mother got back together. The rescue of the ladies was quite heartwarming and Joe made an excellent speech showing he has never changed his mind about Dolly. She still has a few chapters to reciprocate.

In a brief sentence we find out that Gordon was arrested, he seems so removed from all the chaos that he helped cause.

I agree, things are looking very bleak for Barnaby, and certainly Dennis and Hugh appear to be coming to very unhappy ends as well. Although we have known about Hugh's mother for some time, that was a complete surprise about his father-I wonder if anything will be made of Hugh and Edward being half-brothers. Strangely I felt rather sorry for Simon although he was certainly prepared to completely betray the Varden family and Miggs, including placing them in terrible danger. The rescue of Dolly and Emma (and earlier that of Haredale Sr) seemed very quick with little explanation of how everyone found everyone else. I also appreciated how Dolly was once again shown to be the smarter of the two women. (Counter to the tendency to have the Upper Classes portrayed as calm and reasoning and intelligent, and the Lower Classes as excitable and foolish).

A question-was the obnoxious country gentleman who wanted to buy Grip earlier somehow involved in the sentencing of Barnaby? I wasn't sure if I read that passage correctly.

Finally, another possible diagnosis: I think Mr Willet shows definite signs of untreated hypothyroidism-the confusion, the slow speech and general sluggishness, the overweight-all such a contrast to his active son, and not in keeping with someone who previously ran what appeared to be a very successful Country Inn.

I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds, but I agree that it feels as if there are a lot of loose ends and quickly contrived endings to plot lines.

Robin wrote: "I agree with Hedi, I couldn't figure out how Barnaby and his mother got back together. The rescue of the ladies was quite heartwarming and Joe made an excellent speech showing he has never changed ..."

That actually fits his true historic persona, at least according to the 'most reliable source', Wikipedia:-)

I must admit I was completely surprised by the plot twist of Mr. Chester being Hugh's father.

I figured out that Mr. Rudge was still alive about halfway through the novel, but I never saw that one coming. Now that I think about it, Dickens did drop some clues (i.e. Mr Chester looking at Hugh's face) but I completely missed them.

Hedi wrote: "I have not read all the chapters for this week, but am getting now also a little annoyed with the lack of consistency. Yesterday, I wanted to mention the disappearance of Mr. Chester in the previou..."

Yes, there isn't a lot of continuity for the characters. They come in, they go for a long time, and finally return just to disappear again.

I also was surprised that Mr. Chester is Hugh's father. The scene where Chester stares at Hugh early in the novel, I thought he knew who Hugh's mother was, but I just never connected it to him. He's such a elitist snob, it would never occur to me that he would even know a poor young woman, let along have a child with her. But it is keeping with his character that he would abandon her right afterwards.

John Willet is an odd, odd man. The scene with Joe was bizarre, but strangely fit with John Willet's character.

I am so upset that Barnaby has been convicted. The British law (and really society) at that time was very uncompassionate - so I had a feeling, but was still hoping. I shouldn't have.

Feel bad for Dolly. She finally realizes how much she loves Joe, and then for him to say that he hopes she marries well, etc. No wonder she can't stop crying. ;)

The scene with Miggs and Dennis would have been funny if I had known that Dolly and Emma were going to be rescued. But I was too unsure of what was going to happen so she just annoyed me.

And oddly, still feeling badly for Hugh. He's not a good guy, but I can't help thinking that if he was brought up in different circumstances, he would have been completely different.

I'm going to have to finish it in the next couple of days. I need to know what is going to happen to Barnaby.