Victorians! discussion
This topic is about
Our Mutual Friend
Archived Group Reads 2019
>
Our Mutual Friend: Week 5: Chapters XI-VI (Book 2)
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
Gaffer Hexam: who makes his living fishing out corpses from the Thames
Lizzie: 19, his daughter, looks after others and things of their well-being over her own
Charlie: Gaffer’s son, who setting out to make his living through learning.
Mortimer Lightwood: Solicitor with very little work
Eugene Wrayburn: Lightwood’s friend; barrister with no work
Lady Tippins: who has introduced Mortimer and Eugene to the Veneerings
Mr and Mrs Veneering: Newly rich, with everything “bran new”; making their way in society
Mr and Mrs Podsnap: Rich and with some social standing
Miss Georgiana Podsnap: The Podsnapps’ daughter who couldn’t be any different; wants to be as ‘unawful’ as they are awful.
Mr Twemlow: friend of the Veneerings with connections
Nicodameus Boffin and Henrietty Boffin: who’ve come into the Harmon fortune now that John Harmon is dead
Mr Harmon: miser/made his fortune of dust; now deceased
His daughter: estranged
John Harmon: his heir; murdered?
Silas Wegg: hired by Mr Boffin believing him to be a man of letters
Rogue Riderhood: Gaffer’s old “pardner”
Pleasant Riderhood: his daughter, runs a pawn business and boarding house
Miss Abbey Potterson: 60; proprietress of the Six Jolly Rodger Fellowship; she certainly knows how to deal with her customers
Bella Wilfer: 19, “widow of sorts” of John Harmon
Rumty Wilfer: cherub; Bella’s father
Mrs Wilfer: Bella’s mother
Lavinia Wilfer: Bella’s sister
Mr George Sampson: Not very sharp; Miss Lavinia’s suitor?
Mr John Rokesmith/Julius Hanford: Mysterious stranger; lodger at the Wilfers’; and Mr Boffin’s man of business; admires Bella
Mr Venus: taxidermist; “friend” of Wegg
Mr Alfred Lammle: Pretending to be a man of property
Miss Sophronia Akershem/Mrs Lammle: His wife; Pretending to be a woman of property
Mr Fledgeby: possible suitor for Georgiana Podsnap; seems to have two entirely different personalities
Betty Higden: Washerwoman and runs a minding school; grandmother of young Johnny
Johnny: Little orphan selected by the Boffins for adoption
Sloppy: her assistant
Bradley Headstone: Charley Hexam’s schoolmaster; seems to show an interest in Lizzie Hexam
Miss Peecher: Schoolmistress in love with Headstone who doesn’t reciprocate
Miss Jenny Wren: the Doll’s dressmaker
The Bad Child: Her alcoholic father
Mr Riah: Kind hearted old Jewish man who serves as a “front” for Mr Fledgby
Mod
Mod
Unfortunately for him, Rokesmith/Harmon has fallen in love with Bella but she refuses his offer and informs him she will marry only for money. This makes him decides in earnest that he doesn't want to rise from the dead.
Mod
Mod
There is another new character - Pleasant Riderhood! She seems a nice and courageous girl. And she is really unlucky to be Rogue's daughter as he obviously doesn't treat her well.
Mod
Mod
That's likely-she has Mr Riah to help her out too and I'm sure he'd have given whatever help was needed.
Mod
I think there is too. Bella obviously wants to life a much better life than she has been living-her family with the exception of Rumty aren't also the most pleasant of people, and they have always been living in straitened circumstances.
Mod
There is still the matter of Radfoot's death though--I doubt Gaffer was involved in that either.
Lady Clementina wrote: "Half way mark this week and an instalment so full of developments!These chapters were very entertaining. I'm getting a good idea for how hard it was for Dicken's readers to wait out the next installment.
Piyangie wrote: "Bradley Headstone has indeed turned out to be a monster! I can well understand Lizzie's dislike of him. But in as much my dislike for him, I doubt whether he is behind Lizzie's disappearnace. My fe..."I'm confused. Did Lizzie disappear? Or is it just Rokesmith who can't find her?
Mod
No she's disappeared. Lightwood pretty much says it at the anniversary breakfast "...I fail too [at communicating with her], because she has vanished."
Lady Clementina wrote: "Piyangie wrote: "Bradley Headstone has indeed turned out to be a monster! I can well understand Lizzie's dislike of him. But in as much my dislike for him, I doubt whether he is behind Lizzie's dis..."Here is hoping that Lizzie is alive and well, and somehow hiding out with the help of Mr Riah! Headstone is certainly frightening enough to make any young lady want to run away...
I notice that the normally careless and irresponsible Eugene is disturbed by Lizzie's disappearance (at least he seems to be, judging by his behaviour at the anniversary party). Will the shock be enough to make him re consider what he is doing with his life? We can but hope...
Jenny wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Half way mark this week and an instalment so full of developments!These chapters were very entertaining. I'm getting a good idea for how hard it was for Dicken's readers ..."
Me too! I tend to read too fast, and every week I have to make myself stop from reading ahead into next week, which is not easy with this kind of suspense! I know I could read ahead if I wanted to, but I am trying to read more slowly so I can enjoy the book more, because I know that I usually miss things in my rush to find out what is going to happen next.
Mod
These chapters were very entertaining. I'm getting a good idea for how hard it was for Dic..."
True that tends to happen. We're reading two instalments (as they originally appeared) each week so the original audience would have read about half and then had to wait for the next segment to appear.
Mod
That also indicates that he wasn't involved in her dissapperance (as in, in helping her vanish) either.
Mod
Eugene seems to be genuinely caring for Lizzie. But whether he really understands his feelings for her is still a question. It is good if his feelings for her can change him for a more responsible person.
Despite all his flaws, I like Eugene. I believe there is potential in him to develop in to someone better.
Jenny wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "Half way mark this week and an instalment so full of developments!These chapters were very entertaining. I'm getting a good idea for how hard it was for Dicken's readers ..."
Absolutely! It really is like a soap opera with so many dramatic storylines running alongside each other. I can't believe we're only halfway through when so much has happened already.
Mod
These chapters were very entertaining. I'm getting a good idea for how hard it was for Dic..."
It was a serial after all-I can imagine people waiting with bated breath to see what happens next like we might do with a tv show or even the next volume in a book series.
Piyangie wrote: "Mrs. Lammle showed a different side of hers in this segment. She finally decides to betray her husband and save Georgina from "their" scheme. Hopefully Mr. Twemlow will carry out her wish effective..."I was glad Mrs Lammle decided to thwart the scheme of throwing Georgiana to that awful man! Perhaps her own unhappy marriage motivated her to move against her bullying husband and save G from a similar fate. I just hope she doesn't get caught out by him - in Victorian times women had no real protection from violent husbands or fathers, as we've seen with Pleasant, and I think Mr Lammle has the potential to turn nasty.
Mod
He certainly does, and I am hoping the same too. I think she also felt for Georgiana since she was a genuinely nice person, and completely unlike the rest of her family. Had she been Podsnappish, she would probably have not been as kind.
Fern wrote: "Me too! I tend to read too fast,I also get more out of the story when I read it slower. Sometime I'll listen to an Audible book at double speed, missing a lot of the art. I'm taking my time with this one and am totally into it.
In Chapter 15 Lizzie’s friend, Mr. Riah, comes to her aid. Hearing of Lizzy’s harsh treatment by her brother he responds: ‘He is a thankless dog,” said the Jew, angrily. ‘Let him go. Shake the dust from thy feet and let him go.’ A reference to the New Testament: Luke 9:4 “And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them” or Mat 10:14: “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” It is telling that Dickens has a Jewish character say this. Riah is so kind and I expect he will prove a true friend to Lizzie and that she will be leaving town.
Mod
I also get more out of the story when I read it slower. Sometime I'll listen to an Audible book at double speed, missing a lot of the art. I'm taking ..."
Glad to hear that.
Mod
He will, certainly.
if you've read Oliver Twist, Mr Riah here stands out i complete contrast to Fagin there.
was anyone surprised by Rokesmith / Hanford being Harmon? I guessed it a while back, but I was surprised by Dickens revealing it at the midpoint, I thought he was going to save it for a big reveal at the end.
Mod
My feeling exactly, Nina. I thought Rokesmith's identity will be revealed towards the end.
Mod
Yes--me too. The first time I read it, I was surprised that he let us know mid way.
Miss Peecher has her heart set on Bradley Headstone, but Headstone has fallen for Lizzie, a little too hard. He tries to make his feelings clear to Lizzie (who even previously felt repelled even in taking his arm), taking a couple of meetings to do so, but (as expected) she refuses, driving him a little too over the edge. The intensity of his feeling, and the hate he has developed for Eugene Wrayburn is beginning to take a more serious turn, and might prove positively dangerous. He was certain scary when Lizzie refused his proposal, and I was afraid he might turn violent. Lizzie has disappeared now. But where could she have gone? Is Headstone behind this?
Charlie Hexam in this instalment (for me at least), deserved a couple (or more) of hard slaps. He crosses every limit of self-centredness demanding that his interests be everyone’s interests, and that his sister consider his advancement, without a single thought to her feelings. One can understand that he doesn’t want her to get involved with Eugene Wrayburn because from his pov that connection would never result in marriage but ignominy for his sister—but even so, to insist that she accept Headstone’s proposal or to believe that he is so great/intelligent now that she be guided by him in everything is much too presumptuous.
Meanwhile, a big mystery is solved (or had you guessed this already?). We learn that John Rokesmith/Julius Hanford is none other than John Harmon (who was presumed dead), heir to the Harmon fortune. We also learn of how he wished to see what Bella was like before revealing himself but ended up the victim of a murder plot at the hands of George Radfoot a sailor, who himself was murdered by someone else. While whodunit for that murder is still a bit of a mystery, Rokesmith/Harmon has sought to do justice for Lizzie and Charlie (the latter doesn’t deserve this, though, does he?), by making Rogue Riderhood retract the false accusations he had made against Gaffer.
And back to ‘matters of the heart’ for a moment, Rokesmith/Harmon has actually fallen for Bella, and tells her so but she is not receptive to his feelings, since she seems to have made up her mind that she will be mercenary and marry only money. (But we did detect some interest on her part in the past, so perhaps, there is hope yet). Partly, perhaps as a consequence of this, and partly at the manner in which the Boffins have been using the money, he decides to keep his identity secret, for good.
We also met in this instalment, Rogue Riderhood’s daughter Pleasant, who hasn’t had the best of upbringings—as we saw, Riderhood was not much better a person at home than he was outside, violent towards his daughter—but she is making the best of what she has running a pawn business and also a boarding house of sorts.
Betty Higden feels that she is getting in the way of Sloppy’s good fortune, and decides to disappear from the scene, though she informs Rokesmith and the Boffins of her decision since she is unwilling to accept charity of any kind. Rokesmith and Mrs Boffin understand her position, but still do what they can to help, with the letter in her pocket so that they can be contacted if needed.
On the other side, it is a year since the Lammles wedding, and they organise a breakfast to celebrate. The plans to ensnare Georgiana in a marriage with the odious Fledgeby is still on, but we see that Sophronia isn’t as much like her husband as we’d thought her. She genuinely seems to want to help Georgiana and enlists Mr Twemlow’s help in doing so. But will we be able to do something in time?
What an exciting set of chapters! What did you think of the developments in this segment?