The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

We are nearly done with the book! This thread is for the penultimate part of the novel, namely for chapters 46-49. I am, as usual, looking forward to your posts and ideas.

This part definitely indicates that it is time to wrap up all the plot lines in the novel. We have not received all the answers we want to get, but some of them were answered. Jonas definitely poisoned his own father; what is more, he tried to create a spurious impression of him taking care of his father. This confession is accompanied by one of the darkest moments in the novel. Dickens explores the psyche of this despicable man, and if initially some of us could be mislead and illusioned confusing his anxiety with moral qualms and mental inner torments, but then within the same chapter Dickens leaves us no doubts for hesitation. Jonas is evil because he is evil. On the other hand, no explanation for his villainous souls has been provided, but the foray into the dark and morbid mind of a killer was a very powerful one.
On a more optimistic note, Cherry is on the brink of her matrimonial bliss, but Mr. Moddle does not sound happy and blessed, so we might expect further development.
Mrs. Gamps does not stop amusing me. She is possible the most memorable character together with Jonas and Pecksniff. Her inebriation is never blatantly mentioned in the novel, but is often alluded in the most hilarious and unassuming way. She definitely provided the comical relief in the novel, and she does this well. This Dickens's classy note – creating memorable, bigger-than-life characters – enlightens and illuminates even the most insipid and less successful of his novels.

Concluding my post, I want to share the quote that shows that Dickens was a master of horror and gory writing. It is definitely not enjoying as a quotation, but Maestro can teach many authors of modern splatterpunk and gory novels how to write an intense and emotionally gripping scene.

  Never more beheld by mortal eye or heard by mortal ear; one man excepted. That man, parting the leaves and branches on the other side, near where the path emerged again, came leaping out soon afterwards.
    What had he left within the wood, that he sprang out of it as if it were a hell!
    The body of a murdered man. In one thick solitary spot, it lay among the last year's leaves of oak and beech, just as it had fallen headlong down. Sopping and soaking in among the leaves that formed its pillow; oozing down into the boggy ground, as if to cover itself from human sight; forcing its way between and through the curling leaves, as if those senseless things rejected and forswore it and were coiled up in abhorrence; went a dark, dark stain that dyed the whole summer night from earth to heaven.

Commentaries

Chapter 46

1. loo table: a round table for playing the popular card game of loo

2. cramp-bones: sheep's kneecaps, believed to ward off cramp.

3. Spanish flies: preparation from the dried beetle cantharides vesicatoria, used as a blistering agent and diuretic.

4. truckle-bed: low bed on castors, designed to be placed beneath a larger bed when not in use.

5. Jew's-harp: a musical instrument, held in the mouth

Chapter 49

1. Bartlemy's .... Saint Bartholomew: Saint Bartholomew's hospital, Smithfield, the oldest London hospital.

2. turn-up bedstead ... French bedstead ... tent: a folding bed; a bed with scrolled ends; a bed with a canopy like a tent.

3. Zephyrs: mild, gentle breeze

4. pap-boat:a dish in the shape of a boat for feeding infants.

5. airy stones: area stones. An area was a sunken court giving access to the basement of a house.

6.his owls was organs: Mrs. Harris was told that Mrs' Harris's (h)owls were the sound of barrel-organs in the street.

7. Friar Bacon: in Robert Green's play Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1594), Bacon creates with supernatural aid a talking head of bronze, but falls asleep from exhaustion before it speaks. He is woken by the head breaking into pieces.

This section is so rich in character that I think it may be my favorite segment of the novel. The truth about Jonas comes to light, and although he is certainly a frightening figure, I don’t characterize him as merely a coldblooded killer because he seems to have a conscience, flawed as it is. He exhibits paranoia over being apprehended, and although he is not sorry for murdering Montague (and his father), he is plagued by fear. He even dreams about a mob accusing him of bringing about Judgment Day (chapter 47)—Dickens seems to use dreams in an almost prophetic sense throughout the novel. Perhaps I am being naïve, but I attribute his actions to desperate selfishness rather than an innate evil; he is used to getting what he wants and will do whatever it takes to satisfy his own needs and desires: “But the fatality was of his own working; the pit was of his own digging; the gloom that gathered round him was the shadow of his own life” (chapter 46). I enjoyed the way in which Dickens compared the darkness of night’s approach to the darkness coming over Jonas’ countenance, and of course who could miss the obvious irony of Jonas overhearing the two men speaking of finding the skeleton of a man whom they think was murdered and commenting that the murderer will be discovered.

Mrs. Gamp’s character, too, was fleshed out here: “Mrs. Gamp was a lady of that happy temperament which can be ecstatic without any other stimulating cause than a general desire to establish a large and profitable connection” (chapter 46). This is amusing in hindsight, after her fallout with Mrs. Prig over the existence (or nonexistence) of Mrs. Harris, and of course it fits nicely with John and Martin’s plans to expose Jonas. That Mr. Chuffey should (it seems) be the last piece of the puzzle is not altogether surprising, although I was glad to learn about Lewsome’s identity and his connection with Jonas, which provided the latter with the means of acquiring the poison. As the denouement is reached, John sums it up when he tells Martin that “when rogues fall out, honest people get what they want” (chapter 49), hinting at a happy ending. It seems that both Jonas and Pecksniff will be exposed, thereby freeing Mercy. I wonder at how Dickens will leave old Martin and Tom Pinch, and whether Martin and Mary will indeed get married. This has been a delightful novel, and the characters are truly timeless.

Sarah wrote: "This section is so rich in character that I think it may be my favorite segment of the novel. The truth about Jonas comes to light, and although he is certainly a frightening figure, I don’t charac..."

It is somewhat curious that we both decided to share quotations from the novel in our posts.

As far as Jonas is concerned, he is definitely endowed with the ability to self-reflect, but this ability is also based on his self-preservation, in other words, as you said, ego.

He is malicious, but he is not pure evil incarnate without any qualms or anxieties, even if they are driven by his egoistic motives.

I adore the beginning of Ch 49 when Sairey has Mrs. Prig for tea! Mrs Prig seems to be one of those combative types who becomes more so under the influence. Even before the teapot of spirits was shared she was prickly, producing a two penny salad from her pocket because she knew Sairey wouldn't have a cucumber. I almost fell over laughing when she called old Chuffey "Snuffey" in order to insult Mrs. Gamp.

The bit with the salad in the pocket reminded me of something that happened around Christmas. I took my niece out shopping and we had lunch while we were out. I didn't finish my flatbread and since it came wrapped I put it in my purse and forgot about it. Several hours later we were in line at the grocery and I found it so I started munching on it while waiting. My niece was like, "what are you doing?" And I said, "what? You've never seen purse-bread before?" Which cracked us up. I guess the difference between myself and Mrs Prig is that I realized it was a ridiculous thing to do while she seemed to believe carrying salad in her pockets was perfectly normal.

I am glad we're approaching the end. The only comment I can make without spoilers is that the truth about Jonas is even more horrible than I had imagined. One of the things I love about Dickens is his ability to surprise me. I can generally predict what will happen in his novels but there are always details that throw me for a loop.

Jennifer wrote: " And I said, "what? You've never seen purse-bread before?" Which cracked us up. I guess the difference between myself and Mrs Prig is that I realized it was a ridiculous thing to do while she seemed to believe carrying salad in her pockets was perfectly normal.."

Isn't nice to be able to truly relate to the characters? :-)
And I know, it has been mentioned many times, and I am not being original, but Dickens's ability to name his characters in the most exposing way keeps astonishing me.

Mrs. PRIG with the salad in her pocket:-)