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The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain
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The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (hosted by Petra)
Maybe he was hoping his sister would married his friend —— but instead,his friend stole his very own lover away from him. So then he was left with his sister broken-hearted and then she died, him now bereft of his sister, his lover and stuck with a false friend?“For my friend (in whose breast my confidence was locked as in my own), passing between me and the centre of the system of my hopes and struggles, won her to himself, and shattered my frail universe.”
Lots of betrayal here and tragedy of death …..maybe?
Absolutely, Lee. That's a lot of sorrow for a person to deal with, so now he is haunted by all his memories.
What a web! Poor Redlaw! Lee's interpretation makes the most dramatic and emotional story:
the friend stole/attracted Redlaw's Love from him. The sister may have been wooed (or Redlaw would have liked her to be wooed) by the friend, but it didn't work out or wasn't to be. The sister, who loved the friend, died of a broken heart (or illness) and Redlaw was left with no sister, no Love and no friend.
Phew! What a story!
(I'm glad I wasn't the only one confused by this section.....)
Summary 8 - The Gift BestowedThe ghost carries within himself a Sorrow and a Wrong, making memory a curse. If the memory could be lost, the ghost would certainly do so.
Haunted Redlaw argues with his ghostly self that who wouldn’t want to forget their sorrows, wrong, jealousies and ingratitudes that live in every man. Memories are full of some sorrow or trouble.
The ghost offers him forgetfulness of his sorrows, wrongs and troubles.
Redlaw wavers. He’s mistrustful of the ghost and doubts his word. The fear inside him deepens to a horror. He wants to keep all good memories or any good sympathies that benefit himself or others. He wants to know what else he’ll forget.
The ghost promises that he’ll lose no knowledge, no learning. He’ll lose only the feeling and associations dependent on and nourished by the banished memories, those that have shown themselves in the fire, the wind and the stillness of night all these many years.
He lets Redlaw ponder it for awhile then tells him that he must decide.
Redlaw waivers yet. He reasons that his sorrows have touched no one else. If these sorrows have poisoned his mind and body, should he not let them go and cast them out? So often he’s told himself that he would forget if he could…..so, yes, he will forget his sorrow, wrong and trouble.
The ghost then tells him that he (Redlaw) will have the power to impose the same gift on those he meets. He’s been given the gift of seeing that a man’s sorrow, wrong and trouble is the cause of unhappiness and that mankind would be better off without those memories. He can now remove these memories from other’s minds. The ghost removes the memories of Sorrow, Wrong and Trouble from Redlaw and tells him to go forth and be happy.
The ghost moved in close, his hand above Redlaw’s head. Redlaw could see that his eyes did not smile with the terrible, smiling mouth. The ghost melted away and was gone.
He was rooted on the spot when he heard a loud cry. The cry came from the far reaches of the building from someone who seemed in the dark and who had lost his way.
First, I really appreciate the discussion above about what the chemist is lamenting. I definitely need to re-read! What I took was that his “love” was his learning, and because of it he neglected his sister, and she married his friend who beat her! Today's passage was very frightening to me. Imagine losing anything around our memories--even the bad ones have so much to cherish wrapped around them. I shudder to think what's going to happen ...
I believe I read it correctly the first time. The sister loved the friend, Redlaw says "A dream, like hers, stole upon my own life." While Redlaw was struggling to have enough money to offer his love a home, his friend stepped between and his love married his friend.For my friend (in whose breast my confidence was locked as in my own), passing between me and the centre of the system of my hopes and stuggles, won her to himself, and shattered my frail universe.
His sister ended her days with him, unmarried.
His sorrow is, of course, the loss of these three people whom he loved. His wrong is the wrong his friend did him in stealing his love.
To today. Is this a good or a bad gift? To appreciate the good in life, we must know the bad sometimes. I could not help thinking of the old man Swidger, who couples his memories of loss with the sweeter memories of his life and finds balance. To forget the loss, he would have to forget that he had the wife, the children and the joy. Will Redlaw lose his memories of what it is to love and be loved? Will he no longer feel the closeness to his sister when he cannot remember that he has lost her? I doubt the wisdom of accepting the bargain, even though I understand the temptation.
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Basically it came about because Christmas is a time when we get together as families, and it's always cold and dark too at this time of year when the days are short. So a tradition became established and grew particularly popular in Victorian Britain that Christmas was a time for family gatherings around the hearth, where storytelling by candlelight (no electricity!) was a common pastime. From there it was a natural choice to tell ghost stories, with their elements of danger and the supernatural, because they offered a thrilling contrast to the warmth and safety of the home. 🎄👻😱
Charles Dickens was a great enthusiast of these family gatherings - and he also loved sprites and phantoms - putting them in his works at the most surprising times! So basically he was giving everyone what they wanted 😊
Here's an article which mentions how Americans were initially resistant of the idea of ghost stories at Christmas, and how Charles Dickens added to the Victorian craze for them:
https://www.history.com/news/christma...
What a passage today (12/31)! I agree with you, Sara, on the tragedy of losing all intertwined memories (as Peter Swidger's Christmas memories are intertwined with his mother's death). What I thought was really awful was that the ghost did not tell Redlaw the terrible consequences of his bargain: "The gift that I have given, you shall give again, go where you will. Without recovering yourself the power that you have yielded up, you shall henceforth destroy its like in all whom you approach...from this hour, carry involuntarily the blessing of such freedom with you". And then immediately, Redlaw heard a shrill cry from the young student! Will Redlaw now become an outcast from others who do not wish to have their memories expunged?! This was really a malevolent trick on the part of the ghost! It left me incensed at the ghost and so sorry for Redlaw!
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As Peter said, this is key to a Victorian Christmas. People would bedeck their houses with greenery - holly, ivy and mistletoe - before more gaudy decorations were thought of, and before the Christmas tree became possible for ordinary people (although royalty had them from the time of George III when Queen Charlotte brought one over from Germany. Prince Albert and Charles Dickens were later to popularise the Christmas tree.) You can see a garland on the mantlepiece in Doughty St. right now in the photo in Mrs Dickens Parlour (chat thread). If I can get to the "Charles Dickens Museum" again before Twelfth Night, I'll take some more pictures 😊
Our Father Christmas too was dressed in green - a cross between the Father Christmas in mummers plays, and the green man of folklore. America was to change all that ... but I'm sure you know that story better than me!
How it relates here can be seen from the illustrations by John Leech to the first of Charles Dickens's Christmas books, A Christmas Carol. Remember that the Spirit of Christmas present is dressed in a flowing green robe, as described by Charles Dickens? This is how he saw Father Christmas.
Bionic Jean wrote: "Here's an article which mentions how Americans were initially resistant of the idea of ghost stories at Christmas, and how Charles Dickens added to the Victorian craze for them:https://www.history.com/news/christma..."
Thank you for this information, Jean. I read the article you linked to, only to find that Nathaniel Hawthorne not only wrote ghost stories, but he also wove mesmerism into The House of the Seven Gables. That book has been on my TBR for years - I'm now curious enough about it to include it on my 2025 list. Thank you! LOL
When the Ghost kept pressing Redlaw for a decision I was yelling in my head No! No! No! Although we don't wish troubles and sorrows onto ourselves or others, I also believe that those who deal with them can also plumb the depths of the opposite emotions such as love, gratitude, friendship, joy etc. So that when those experiences or emotions are memories, they are all the more sweeter. On top of that, as Shirley mentioned, the Ghost throws a real hook into things with the additional part of the "gift". Unintended consequences to be sure!
And thank you Jean for the information on Dickens, Christmas and Ghost stories. I didn't realize that was a thing in England. I think most of us in the U.S. use the month of Oct leading to Halloween for Ghost stories and the like. I grew up in the Girl Scouts and I can say that late nights around the campfire no matter the time of year would often elicit scary stories contests.
Thank you, Jean, for the information on Victorian Christmasses. I've always liked a Father Christmas/Santa figure dressed in green. Now I know that it's the original (?....older than red) outfit for Father Christmas.
Chris wrote: "......the Ghost throws a real hook into things with the additional part of the "gift". Unintended consequences to be sure!.."Yes, my thoughts exactly!
When the ghost offered the gift, I also was crying "no, no, no!". Not only because I think all memories can offer some form of peace if worked through but also because of this extra barb the ghost added.
Redlaw saw the gift as pertaining only unto himself and that he would hurt no one by accepting this gift. He seems to have completely overlooked this addition to the gift.
Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "Will Redlaw now become an outcast from others who do not wish to have their memories expunged?! This was really a malevolent trick on the part of the ghost! It left me incensed at the ghost and so sorry for Redlaw!..."The snowball effect of this Gift is mindboggling to think about.
Is Redlaw the only one who will further "give" the gift or can the others also "give" it further along?
How long, if the gift is so easily given, before the World has no memories? What happens to Society or people then?
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LOL! By the way, if anyone is wondering about the amount of snow in Charles Dickens's stories, it is because the first decade of his life (he was born in 1812) had more snow than for many years before - or after. The river Thames froze, and there was an annual ice fair - with many stalls, and even donkey rides on the ice! Charles Dickens remembered this type of weather from his childhood and put it into his stories. We always hope for a "white Christmas", but London has never seen the like since.
Bionic Jean wrote: "Petra wrote: "it is because the first decade of his life (he was born in 1812) had more snow than for many years before - or after. ."Thats fascinating, Jean! Of course, a decade of winters like that would deeply affect anyone, but especially Dickens with his fertile imagination which, I think, accompanied him his whole life.
About the extra ability Redlaw will have - cleansing others of their sorrowful thoughts - my first thought was of King Midas. And we all know how well that turned out!
Redlaw seems to be willfully misremembering what Philip Swidger said about memories. Redlaw says they were "a tissue of sorrow and trouble" but that's not at all how Mr. Swidger felt.
Chris wrote: "When the Ghost kept pressing Redlaw for a decision I was yelling in my head No! No! No! Although we don't wish troubles and sorrows onto ourselves or others, I also believe that those who deal with..."Yes. The phrase unintended consequences is perfect. For every action a person takes there will be both the intended consequences the person sought and the unintended consequences that lurk deeper in our mind and too often present themselves in our future.
Redlaw’s past is pressing upon him and he wants some resolution to his position in life. That the ghost urges him to make his mind up about the offer should set off alarm bells, but Redlaw, like all of us, wants a resolution.
What is the cliche? … act in haste and resent in leisure.
Summary 9 - The Gift Bestowed Confusedly he looked himself over as if to confirm his identity, then called back that there was a strangeness in him as well, as if he, too, were lost. The cry came again and was closer. He picked up his lamp and entered the theatre in which he lectured, which was next to his room. It was a horrid place without any life in it and seemed to look upon him as Death.
He called to the voice to come towards his light and held up the lamp. Something ran by him quickly and hid in the corner. He sees a bundle of rags and tatters, held together by a tiny, greedy, desperate clutching hand. A young face of about 6 years but pinched and twisted by experiences of Life. Eyes bright, yet not youthful. Feet youthful, yet bloodies and cracked. A child who was never a child but a monster. A person who could grow to be a man but would always be a beast inside.
The boy crouched in the corner using his arm to ward off the blow he was expecting. He threatens to bite Redlaw if he’s hit.
Only a few moments ago, Redlaw’s heart would have been wrung by this sad sight, but now he looked upon the boy coldly, trying to remember something but he knew not what.
The boy is looking for Milly, who brought him into the house. He’d gotten lost in the building, having gone to look for her. He sprang to get away but Redlaw caught him. The boy has no name and no home. He wants to find Milly. Redlaw says he’ll take him to her.
The boy looks around and sees the remnants of the dinner and wants it. Although Milly has fed him, he wants the food because hunger will be there every day. He springs to the table, grabs the bread & meat and hugs them to him. Now, he says, he’ll go with Redlaw to see Milly.
Redlaw tells him to follow. He goes through the door then stops. He recalls the ghost’s words: “the gift that I have given, you shall give again, go where you will”. A chill grows around him and he decides not to use the gift tonight.
He gives the boy directions to Milly’s rooms. The boy runs down the corridor. Redlaw returns to his room and locks the door, sat in his chair and covers his face with his hands.
Now he is alone. Truly alone.
Redlaw and The Boy by John Leech, 1848
Redlaw and The Waif by Charles Green, 1912
The Charles Green illustration shows Redlaw's shadow, giving the impression of the Phantom. But the John Leech illustration fits the description of the child better with rags for clothes and an underfed, thin look about him.Thanks for finding so many great illustrations, Petra.
Connie wrote: "The Charles Green illustration shows Redlaw's shadow, giving the impression of the Phantom. But the John Leech illustration fits the description of the child better with rags for clothes and an und..."Connie
I really liked how you noticed and interpreted Redlaw’s shadow in the Greene illustration. Also, I too favoured the Leech illustration. Like the work of Hablot Browne, I am unabashedly a fan of Leech.
The use/function of a child in Dickens may be seen as a trope, but the style works very effectively. The child is poor and hungry but what, the reader will ask, is Redlaw?
Connie, it's a thrill to find so many wonderful illustrations. It's surprising how some of Dickens' stories have very few illustrations while others have an abundance of them. Makes me wonder why illustrators preferred one story over the other for illustrating.
I find Charles Green's illustration to show a more gentle and kind Reldaw, He could be nearing the child to give it some comfort and could be talking soothingly to it to calm it. John Leech's illustration is more brutal and wild. Redlaw looks like he might be going to strike a terrified child.
I'm not sure which one fits Redlaw best. The Redlaw we knew was gentle and kind, so Green's illustration works well.......but who is the new Redlaw with the Gift?
Petra wrote but who is the new Redlaw with the Gift?I think we see some of the new Redlaw, with the quote you used un the summary Only a few moments ago, Redlaw’s heart would have been wrung by this sad sight, but now he looked upon the boy coldly, trying to remember something but he knew not what.
He appears to be unable to show compassion for the poor child. So not only memories of sorrows and troubles but the ability to express some (all?) emotions in the present. Although he did step away from passing his "gift" onto the sweet Milly. So there is something still within his heart that shows concern for another, as well as feeling bereft when he realizes he is trapped in his aloneness. My heart when out to him with that last line of the chapter.
Petra wrote: "but who is the new Redlaw with the Gift?"Excellent question, Petra! It really gets at the heart of the first chapter, doesn't it? Of course, I don't have an answer, but I did notice that Redlaw is confused about who he is now. Right after hearing the shrill cry, Dickens writes: "He looked confusedly upon his hand and limbs, as if to be assured of his identity". When I read that, I felt so bad for Redlaw. Don't our sorrowful memories become part of who we are? If I lost mine, would I even know who I was? These are very deep themes Dickens is dealing with. Perhaps deeper than the themes in the other Christmas Novellas we've read. But then we have much left to read.
Chris wrote: "He appears to be unable to show compassion for the poor child. So not only memories of sorrows and troubles but the ability to express some (all?) emotions in the present...."His change of emotions made me think, too.
I tried to imagine what it would be like to have no bad memories and how that would change me.
Much of our empathy and compassion comes from knowing what the other person is going through. If Redlaw can't remember his bad times, how can he empathize with someone going through a bad time? My guess is that this lack of experience is what has taken his empathy away.
It'll be interesting to find out what else he's lost and how that manifests itself.
Bridget wrote: "Don't our sorrowful memories become part of who we are? If I lost mine, would I even know who I was? ..."Bridget, well put. We lose some of ourselves when we lose our memories. If I contemplated receiving The Gift, I don't think I would have thought of this unintended consequence.
Chapter 2 - The Gift DiffusedThe Christmas Waits by Charles Green, 1912
Summary 1 - The Gift DiffusedA small man sits in a small room behind a small shop. He’s surrounded by many active and small children.
Two of the small children were tucked into a bed in the corner and would not go to sleep, and continually got in and out of the bed. They got out of bed to run across the room and attack an oyster shell wall being constructed by two other children, then would return to their bed.
Another small boy in another bed threw his boots and other objects into the room. The other children picked up the tossed items and tossed them back to the small boy.
Another boy, still small but the largest of them all, tottered across the room, carrying a baby, who was looking attentively over his shoulder.
The baby was a nightmare of a child and the sole occupation of this particular brother. He was never quiet for even five minutes and wouldn’t be put down for a sleep when requires. The “Tetterby’s baby” was known throughout the neighbourhood, as much so as the mailman.
The baby roamed through the neighbourhood, carried by Johnny. Wherever kids played, the baby kept Johnny from joining in. Wherever Tommy wanted to linger, the baby became fretful and wanted to leave. When Johnny wanted to go out, the baby was sleeping and needed watching. When Johnny wanted to stay home, the baby was awake and needed to go out. Johnny had been told that the baby was faultless and was content to care for the baby.
The small man, who was trying to quietly read his newspaper, was the father of this crowd of children and the chief of the shop called A. TETTERBY AND CO., NEWSMEN.
Tetterby’s was the corner shop in the Jerusalem Buildings. The shop was full of miscellaneous items: literature (mainly old newspapers), marble, walking canes. Tetterly’s had once sold a wide variety of items, as attested by the remnants of various items, broken and stale, throughout the store. Tetterby’s had tried hard to earn a living from the Jerusalem Buildings.
MollochMoloch is a word which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the Book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly condemns practices that are associated with Moloch, which are heavily implied to include child sacrifice.
Molech is usually depicted as a bull-headed anthropomorphic deity, which was heated until glowing like flames. Then, as the pinnacle of worship, an infant would be placed in his hands while his devotees listened to the infant cry as it burned to death before their eyes.
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.
From the nineteenth century onward, Moloch has often been used in literature as a metaphor for some form of social, economic or military oppression, as in Charles Dickens' novella, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain.
I don't know if these are the Bull's-Eye candies from Dickens' times (and they wouldn't have been wrapped in plastic, if they are).
See below. Jean has confirmed that these are NOT Bull's Eye candies. We don't know what this mystery candy is. LOL
Tetterby and His Young Family by Charles Green, 1895
The Tumblers and Johnny Tetterby with Tetterby's Baby by Charles Green, 1895
It roved from door-step to door-step, in the arms of little Johnny Tetterby, and lagged heavily at the rear of troops of juveniles who followed the Tumblers by Fred Barnard, 1878
I have finally caught up. I had some of the same confusions as others; so I appreciated reading everyone's posts to get it straight. Thanks Petra, and thanks all!The "baby savage" or "young monster" at the end of the last chapter, is a really strange figure, with his fingers that clutch greedily and desperately like "a bad old man's" hands. He's been warped by the horrors that he has experienced far too early, it seems.
And now, in this chapter, we have a baby as Moloch. Usually there's the idea of babies being sacrificed to the evil "god" Moloch, but here it's flipped. The baby is itself Moloch, and her older brother's life is being sacrificed to her. The baby is envisioned as the capricious god. "It was a very Moloch of a baby, on whose insatiate altar the whole existence of this particular young brother was offered up a daily sacrifice"
I think this is the darkest of Dickens' Christmas stories that I've read so far!
I feel very worried about the "gift," as others. As Petra said earlier, bad experiences are at the root of empathy.
It occurs to me also that any kind of redemption or forgiveness requires memory. People often talk about forgiving and forgetting as though they went together, but it seems to me that those two things are exactly opposed. Redeeming or forgiving or healing any situation requires understanding it, coming to terms with it, acknowledging and dealing with it, going through it. Forgetting is just a cheap trick; it's a way around around the side, but it can never get at the heart of anything. You can either go through or you can go around, never both at once. Going through is harder, but it's the only way any healing can happen.
That image of the doubled Mr Redlaw, himself haunted by himself . . . it's a beautiful expression of what has happened to him. He is his own enemy here. And I like what others have pointed out that it is partially a matter of what parts of his memory he has emphasized, focusing almost entirely on the losses rather than gathering any strength from the dear memories that preceded them.
It makes me think of way back in the first chapter with the "sun-dial" which has gotten lost in "a little bricked-up corner, where no sun had straggled for a hundred years". The sun-dial has completely lost its purpose. And I guess it might be like that for Mr. Redlaw; he allowed himself to be preyed upon by that ghost double of his own mind until he finally found himself in a place where there is no sun and he can find no way any longer to perform anything he was meant for.
I am eager to see where this story will go!
Let us not read too much doom and gloom into this second chapter. There is a humorous element to the family and devil baby,
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Also, like Redlaw, Charles Dickens had been rejected by his true love (Maria Beadnell) in his youth.
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Originally though Charles Dickens commissioned four artists to illustrate it, all of whom had either worked for him before, or were to do so again: John Tenniel, Clarkson Stansfield, Frank Stone and John Leech.
Oh, by the way, those are not bulleyes! (I don't know what they are.) Bullseye sweets were called "gobstoppers" in slang, because they were so big! They cost a penny each when I was little, and were perfectly spherical and stripey.
They used to change colour as you sucked them, so kids kept taking them out of their mouths to have a look 😆
Bionic Jean wrote: "Like Petra I keep being reminded of various details in A Christmas Carol such as the illustrations of Redlaw in his chair and the "ghost". And the "creature on the doorstep more like a ..."Yes. I agree. How Dickens incorporates children in his plots is a key to understanding what Dickens is demanding his readers seriously consider. To me there is a definite darkening of his use of a child/children between how a reader is meant to respond to Tiny Tim and the children Ignorance and Want in ACC and what appears to be unfolding in this novella. The Leech illustration above (message 172) suggests that an impending physical, even brutal harm, to a child is just a second away.
In message 188 we see that Green presents a large family but when we look closely at the father we see that his back is turned away from the children. The children Ignorance and Want revealed in ACC are now seen inside a house where a father does indeed ignore what his children want.
Gobstoppers! We have those, too, Jean. They are called Jawbreakers, with Gobstoppers as the "slang" name for them. In my childhood days, they were licorice and changed colours as they shrunk.
Nowadays, they seem to be available in many colours.
Johnny Tetterby by Joseph Clayton Clarke, c. 1920s
Mr. Tetterby by Joseph Clayton Clarke, 1920s
Mr. William by Joseph Clayton Clarke
Dickensians!
Books mentioned in this topic
American Notes for General Circulation (other topics)No Thoroughfare (other topics)
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (other topics)
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (other topics)
The Cricket on the Hearth (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Michael Kitchen (other topics)
Alan Bleasdale (other topics)
Fred Barnard (other topics)
Sol Eytinge Jr (other topics)
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“Pictures,” said the haunted man, “that were delusions. Why is it my doom to remember them too well!”
“Delusions,” echoed the Phantom in its changeless voice, and glaring on him with its changeless eyes. “For my friend (in whose breast my confidence was locked as in my own), passing between me and the centre of the system of my hopes and struggles, won her to himself, and shattered my frail universe. My sister, doubly dear, doubly devoted, doubly cheerful in my home, lived on to see me famous, and my old ambition so rewarded when its spring was broken, and then—”
“Then died,” he interposed. “Died, gentle as ever; happy; and with no concern but for her brother. Peace!”