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Martin Chuzzlewit
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Martin Chuzzlewit 3: Chapter 21 - 35
I personally thought that the name 'Moddle' was a reference to the word 'maudlin'. Metz, however, supports the line proposed by Sam, John, and Sue: 'According to Dickens's friend, the painter W. P. Frith, Moddle's name concealed a private joke between himself and Dickens. The year before he died in 1909, Frith recalled how during the time Dickens was composing MC he commissioned Frith to paint a portrait of Dolly Varden. When the work was finished, Dickens called on Frith to see the results, which he greatly admired. Dickens asked Frith about the model for the painting, a word which he pronounced 'modèle', in the French style then fashionable. When Frith replied that the model was a Miss Turner, the painter anglicized the pronunciation of the word, and Dickens called attention to the fact, remarking 'Oh, Mr Frith, you call it "Moddle", do you?' Shortly thereafter, the monthly number introducing Charity's lugubrious lover appeared, and Frith claimed to see in the pronunciation of Moddle's name a sly reference to their earlier exchange.'
For what it's worth!
Kathleen, re: other Pecksniff's pupils. I've thought about that, why doesn't Tom understand that Pecksniff is cheating them and their relatives. Well, Tom says in the beginning, 'I was born for much plainer and poorer things, that I am not a good hand for his kind of business, and have no talent for it, or indeed for anything else but odds and ends that are of no use or service to anybody.' My version is, Pecksniff gaslighted Tom into believing this, and from then on, it's easy for Tom to suppose that every time he sees Pecksniff doing something dubious, it's just his own lack of understanding that makes it seem so. But his love for Mary opens his eyes...
But, but, I agree, your version that he consciously chose to ignore Pecksniff's duplicity seems quite probable.
Plateresca wrote: "When we talked about why on earth Mercy accepts Jonas, I kept saying that she can't possibly have many candidates to choose from; and this applies even more to Charity, who, I think, does not so much choose Mr Moddle as chooses to try to get married to whomever possible, by the same principle that any marriage is better than none."I've no doubt that, initially at least, Charity still had her knickers in a knot over the treatment that she received from Jonas and her father and the resulting slight that she had received from Merry as a result of her marriage. On the other hand, I felt it reasonably proper of her to think of the Victorian world's outlook on female behaviour when she said to Moddle that it was time for them to formalize their relationship or terminate it simply because tongues were beginning to wag.
I don't know about the other readers in the group but I began to feel more than a little measure of sympathy for Charity and a belief that the warming of her feelings for Moddle were possibly genuine and not based merely in practical self-interest.
On that basis, I thought a possible interpretation of the name "Moddle" might be that Charity perceived him as a "model" husband, certainly in comparison to the brutish Jonas and even perhaps in comparison to her father. - warm-hearted, kind, devoted, solid, and (BONUS!) with good financial expectations and the ability to provide for their needs. (I see that a handful of other readers in the group also expressed this thought. I should say then that I concur).
Kathleen wrote: "It strikes me that not many people in this book are married. The undertaker has a wife and Jonas and Merry are wed. But no other major characters are married.Contrary to the many comments above, ..."
I agree completely Kathleen. Tom is hopelessly naive about Pecksniff, and I like your that that his vision of who Pecksniff was developed out of self-preservation. The thing about Tom that makes me root for him is his purity of heart and his virtuousness. He's the one selfless character we've met so far.
I also really liked Kathleen of the Roses' comment "I think the greedier Mr. Pecksniff gets, the more he loses: both his daughters and now Tom. He will regret this I'm sure." That's a great insight. I hadn't connected those two things. Pecksniff doesn't seem to mind losing Merry, Cherry and Tom; but I agree (or maybe hope) he will someday.
I really liked Chapter 32. It made me smile and chuckle often. One sentence stumped me though, and I wonder if anyone can tell me what it means: "and twice, as he [Moddle] informed Mrs. Todgers himself, he received anonymous letters, inclosing cards from Funiture Warehouses". Why would cards from "furniture warehouse" upset Mr. Moddle?
Just one small comment about Chapter 31 . . . . I'm so glad Tom left the Pecksniffs. Perhaps this is the start of another "hero's journey". As I was reading, I kept hoping he would take Mary Graham with him, which of course is not feasible, but I hoped for it anyway. Now I'm worried what will become of her left alone with creepy Pecksniff and Old Martin. Tom promised Young Martin he would look out for Mary. I wonder if Tom agonizes over leaving her alone.
Plateresca wrote: "I personally thought that the name 'Moddle' was a reference to the word 'maudlin'. Metz, however, supports the line proposed by Sam, John, and Sue: 'According to Dickens's friend, the painter W. ..."
That’s a terrific story, Plateresca, and thanks for providing the context. Sometimes the most mundane of interactions yield such interesting history for a Dickens’ name.
I don’t wish to muddle things too much more, but I also hear echoes of mottle in this name, which seems to imply an “irregular arrangement.” And the root of that word comes from motley.
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Dickens moves across the world without feeling the need to segue smoothly, as we can tell by the very first apologia of a sentence …
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Chapter 33: Further Proceedings in Eden, and a Proceeding Out of It. Martin Makes a Discovery of Some Importance
“From Mr Moddle to Eden is an easy and natural transition” says the narrator, since both Moddle’s starry-eyed view of the beautiful Miss Pecksniff and the depictions of Eden as a Paradise are equally unrealistic.
Martin has become very ill with fever and ague, and Mark Tapley is hoping one of their neighbours might be able to give him some remedies to help whatever ails him. He is amazed to find his neighbours include the woman and children he helped care for aboard the ship, along with the husband whom they had been coming to meet.
“Mr. Tapley is Recognised by Some Fellow-Citizens of Eden” - Hablot Knight-Browne - January 1844
The woman’s youngest child is very ill.
Mark is moved by the sorry situation of the family, who look in worse shape than they did on board the ship, but determinedly remains his optimistic “jolly” self.
“… he said cheerfully, ‘Do better! To be sure you will. We shall all do better. What we’ve got to do is, to keep up our spirits, and be neighbourly. We shall come all right in the end, never fear.”
“Jolly!” - Fred Barnard - 1872
The husband willingly goes back with Mark to check on Martin. He says that Martin has the same fever they all experience, and will suffer from it for a while. He did himself, but recovered whereas many die from it. He shares some medicine with them and comes backwards and forwards, helping where he can. Their child dies that night and Mark helps to bury it, but he does not tell Martin.
Martin’s health worsens, and despite Mark’s best attentions, Martin: “became the more exacting in his claims, the worse he grew”.
Mark works their patch of land, and is proud that he can “come out strong”. He tries to persuade Martin that the greater their difficulties are, the more they will have achieved when they overcome them. He tells Martin that there are two or three American settlers left now, who behave as if it were the:
“wholesomest and loveliest spot in the world … They can’t help crowing. They was born to do it, and do it they must, whatever comes of it.”
At this one of them appears: a man named Mr. Hannibal Chollop, another one of the most “remarkable” men in the United States. He has come to visit, and enters although Martin does not want him to come in. On observing that Chollop is going to spit, Martin draws the blanket over his head so as not to be in the line of fire. Hannibal Chollop though, claims that he can aim accurately to within an inch. He calls Mark “Mr. Co.”, as Mark has asked everyone to do.
Chollop is very keen on his right to “liberty” and:
“carried a brace of revolving pistols in his coat pocket, with seven barrels a-piece. He also carried … a sword-stick, which he called his ‘Tickler.’ and a great knife, which … he called ‘Ripper,’ in allusion to its usefulness as a means of ventilating the stomach of any adversary in a close contest.”
“Mr. Chollop Visits Martin” - Harry Furniss - The Charles Dickens Library Edition - 1910
He asks Martin how he likes America, and Martin replies “not at all”, to which Chollop observes:
“I am not surprised to hear you say so. It re-quires An elevation, and A preparation of the intellect. The mind of man must be prepared for Freedom, Mr Co.”
Mr. Chollop contiues to boast about what a wonderful place America is, while disparaging England, and claiming that Mark’s attitudes are typically “Europian”.
“Hannibal Chollop” - Sol Eytinge, Jr. - Diamond Edition - 1867
“He always introduced himself to strangers as a worshipper of Freedom; was the consistent advocate of Lynch law, and slavery; and invariably recommended, both in print and speech, the ‘tarring and feathering’ of any unpopular person who differed from himself.”
Mark brings up some of what he sees as the bad things about America, and Mr. Chollop warns him to be careful about speaking so freely.
Martin’s fever worsens, and he is near to death for many days. It is a few weeks before he is strong enough to move around, and even then he is still weak and unwell. Mark grows weak himself, in continually looking after him, although he never complains and is devoted to Martin. His poor friends rally round to help too.
Then inevitably Mark himself falls ill, and his friends are “twenty times kinder” to him. He insists that he is “jolly” but is very weak and delirious off and on. Martin now sees how Mark deals with illness without complaint:
“never reproaching him by so much as an expression of regret; never murmuring; always striving to be manful and staunch”
and begins to think what a great man Mark, who has had few of his advantages in life is. In a similar way Martin sees that poor Tom Pinch—although altogether different—would have this same attitude towards life’s challenges.
“Martin’s nature was a frank and generous one; but he had been bred up in his grandfather’s house; and it will usually be found that the meaner domestic vices propagate themselves to be their own antagonists.”
Martin had seen how his grandfather had prospered by being selfish, and assumed he must be the same.
“Eden was a hard school to learn so hard a lesson in; but there were teachers in the swamp and thicket, and the pestilential air, who had a searching method of their own.”
Now Martin sees that he has not treated Mark as he ought to have, and “felt and knew the failing of his life, and saw distinctly what an ugly spot it was”. Martin resolves to improve himself:
“So low had Eden brought him down. So high had Eden raised him up.”
When Mark comes out of his fever, Martin says that they should write to Mr. Bevan to see whether he can help them out of their situation. They agree to sell all of their goods to pay Mr. Bevan for his help, and even ask Martin’s grandfather for money to reimburse Mr. Bevan for his help. Martin now tells Mark that they would not have got into this situation if he had taken Mark’s advice, a change of attitude which surprises Mark Tapley very much.
They write a frank letter to Mr. Bevan via Mr. Norris of New York. It is to be collected when the next boat comes a week later. Then they work in the putrid swamp with the remaining settlers, who:
“helped each other after their own manner in these struggles, and in all others; but they worked as hopelessly and sadly as a gang of convicts in a penal settlement.”
They wait for a reply which is not likely to come for eight or ten weeks at the earliest.
Mark notices that Martin seems to be a changed man, thinking much less of himself than before. Every time he mentions those at home whom Martin formerly had decided opinions on, he learns that Martin’s views have mellowed. Martin reveals that he knows Mary had spent all her money on the ring for him “knowing I was poor and proud (Heaven help me! Proud!) and wanted money.” and how he now bitterly regrets it.
At last a letter comes from Mr. Bevan which contains a little roll of dollar-notes. Mark and Martin are now able to catch the next steamboat away from Eden, three long weeks later. They leave behind the husband and wife from the ship, who had by then lost all three of their children.
And it is Martin who now shouts encouragement:
“’Courage! We shall meet again!’ cried Martin, waving his hand to two thin figures on the bank. ‘In the Old World!’”
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Inevitably this chapter reminded me of American Notes for General Circulation, as I expect it did everyone else in our group read of it too! The spitting episode here probably shocked and revolted his English readers of the time - and some Americans - but it is not nearly as graphic and extreme as the descriptions in his travelogue. However I personally found those to be written more humorously. Did you like Hannibal Chollop?
So in Charles Dickens’s America, people warn Martin and Mark at every turn about speaking freely. The irony is clear—that America is billed as “the Land of the Free” while supporting slavery and punishing those who speak too freely against the common public opinion. This is a clear transference in fiction of some attitudes in real-life episodes we read.
Martin seems to finally have undergone a complete revelation of character - at last! It is a sort of epiphany. Now his behaviour changes to reflect his own awareness of how selfish and inconsiderate he has been. Martin is chastened when he goes through past events, and realises how much his attitude has changed.
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“So low had Eden brought him down. So high had Eden raised him up.”
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I'll be adding a little more about Charles Dickens's thoughts on America tomorrow, but for now ...
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Publication Issues
In his advance publicity at the end of October 1842, Charles Dickens said that Martin Chuzzlewit was to be about “English Life and Manners”. Yet just a few months later, in May 1843, young Martin announces that he is off to America! Why?
The easy answer critics will tell you, is because of flagging sales. Nicholas Nickleby had topped 50,000 issues sold every month, and The Old Curiosity Shop's monthly installment sales exceeded 100,000. But the first issues of Martin Chuzzlewit were only selling about 20,000 per month. Moreover Charles Dickens’s publishers Chapman and Hall wanted to invoke a clause in his contract whereby they could deduct £50 per month from his salary, should profits not be enough to repay the debt.
Charles Dickens was in debt for £3000 to his publishers plus a further £2000 advance he had had on an unwritten novel, which he used to take a year’s holiday.
(My posts on publication issues from Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby detail the many difficulties and arguments Charles Dickens had with his publishers - including his resigning and stopping writing part way through Oliver Twist - and how John Forster continually negotiated the best contracts for him. The search field on "publication issues" or similar should bring them up.)
Charles Dickens believed that the publishers needed him far more that he needed them, and that he was now a big enough name for them to be paying more for his serials anyway. Threatened with a reduction in his pay, when Charles Dickens considered he was at the height of his powers, he was outraged:
“I am bent on paying Chapman and Hall down” he told Forster, and in June 1843 he vowed to write no more for them. In fact he never did quite sever connections, for instance he wrote and published A Christmas Carol later that year through them, while he was in the middle of writing installments of Martin Chuzzlewit! However Charles Dickens made a loss on A Christmas Carol because he insisted on lavish production values, and also the publishers refused to give it much advance publicity. Author and publisher were never on very good terms after this.
So it’s not quite as simple as “sales were bad”. We do have to take on board too, that there was a trade depression in 1842, which seriously affected publishers, and all this extra aggravation affected Charles Dickens emotionally. As I mentioned before, there are notes extant which show many false starts, notes and incomplete proofs, including (as Plateresca reiterated a couple of days ago) a false start for chapter 6 which extends to seven folio leaves, second thoughts and slips pasted on.
The usual 20 installments (in 19 parts) were gathered together and published in one volume in July 1844, concurrently with the final installment and with little subsequent revision either then or in later editions. However Charles Dickens (who was still incensed, remember) now publically declared his intention that he would no longer supply advance proofs to American publishers until the law was changed.
This was partly because of the largely hostile reception of the Martin Chuzzlewit serial in America, but mostly because of the lack of copyright there. He courteously rejected “on principle” a suggested arrangement by a Philadelphia publisher with whom he had had an arrangement. But it did not stop 3 unauthorised editions being published in 1843, and another in 1844.
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I’m placing this response here, because I think the turmoil above would be bound to affect Charles Dickens’s writing, and you might like to build it into your thoughts about “what Dickens was trying to do”.
Brief initial comment, as I have not read Chapter 33 yet, but will do so later today. I see there is a man named Hannibal Chollop.This brought back, immediately, a memory of mine from American Notes. On the trip out, when the seas were rough and everyone was mostly cabin bound, a server brought roasted potatoes and a heap of “steaming collops.”
I had never heard of collops and needed to research to find out what they were, and learned they were basically meat slices in gravy.
There is so much to love about this chapter! Starting with the last chapter, I felt like Dickens reached his goal, that he was finally on good footing with this story. In my imagination, his mind is so overflowing with what he wanted to do with this story that the first half required some patience. But I think he's there now, and I'm so happy to have arrived. My favorite line was about Hannibal Chollup: “His head was like an old black hearth-broom.””🤣 So vivid.
Another thing I loved was Mark, in his worst sick days, unable to talk, wrote down the word "Jolly."
I also enjoyed learning the seeds of Martin's selfishness, and getting hints of his transformation. About the heroes journey, I think Martin is at the pinnacle. There are different names for it. I think Campbell uses the word "Atonement," which Martin seems to be doing with his realization. In another version, it's called the "Ordeal," where the height of the character arc is seen.
Whatever we call it, I'm pleased to be here with him!
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I wonder what we can deduce about "Chollop" as a name, then 🤔
Fantastic thoughts, you Sue and several others on the name "Moddle". It wouldn't really surprise me if all of these were in Charles Dickens's mind at the time!
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"I loved [that] Mark, in his worst sick days, unable to talk, wrote down the word "Jolly."
is so poignant, isn't it? What an optimistic soul Mark Tapley is, to be sure 🙂
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Plateresca - “I am now coming to think that the rivalry of the two sisters, though shown to a lesser degree than in the original design, still plays an important part in the final version of the novel.”
Oh yes I agree. And it is so sad that this overriding rivalry seems to blind Charity to the fact that her sister is experiencing a living hell with a husband who beats her. Even though in law she couldn’t do anything, she could have at least been a listening ear!
Kathleen of roses - “it seems everyone of this foursome will lose here” - yes, we can see how Charles Dickens’s mind works, can’t we? Surely all those selfish ones will get their just deserts, somehow.
Shirley - “I am so proud of Tom Pinch. He is a brave man who stood up to Pecksniff in the only way he could. Like Lori, Tom is my favorite character to-date.”
You’ll be pleased to know that Charles Dickens himself shared your opinion! He wrote to Lady Holland as the novel neared completion (June 1844) that Tom and his sister were: “two of the greatest favourites I ever had”.
Plateresca was right to establish our fan club for him.
Peter - “Candidly, I found this chapter a bit of a slog.” I’m not a fan of the Moddle episodes either, and can’t quite get a handle on him, but I did enjoy watching Charity’s manipulation of him.
Kathleen - “It strikes me that not many people in this book are married”
Great observation! In some of his novels it seems as if Charles Dickens is almost describing the many ways in which a marriage can go wrong, but here there are quite a few singles, widowers or widows.
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And I totally agree about Merry and Charity’s “twisted kind of love” both for their beaux - and each other! I used to wish I had a sister, but perhaps it’s not automatically a good thing 🤔
Plateresca - I think Peter once posted W.P. Frith’s portrait of Dolly Varden, along with one of Kate Nickleby if I remember rightly. Dolly Varden (the locksmith’s coquettish daughter from Barnaby Rudge, published just the year before, in 1842) was certainly a character who appealed to the the public. She had parasols, dresses, hats - and even a fish - and a piece of music named after her! But I didn’t know of that private joke, so thanks for sharing it.
Paul - On the other hand, I felt it reasonably proper of her to think of the Victorian world’s outlook on female behaviour when she said to Moddle that it was time for them to formalize their relationship or terminate it simply because tongues were beginning to wag.“
Good point! It was a conveniently persuasive argument, wasn’t it?
Bridget wrote: "Just one small comment about Chapter 31 . . . . I'm so glad Tom left the Pecksniffs. Perhaps this is the start of another "hero's journey". As I was reading, I kept hoping he would take Mary Graham with him, which of course is not feasible, but I hoped for it anyway."I feel the same. Reminds me that the hero's journey is a lot tougher for Victorian women to pull off than men, since wandering around on your own is off-limits for them.
Jean I’m exhausted even thinking where to begin to comment on this chapter. Excellent summary. Perhaps the quotation you provided:‘So low had Eden brought him down. So high had Eden raised him up’
From my perspective I see this phrase doing double duty in terms of the Monomyth. In general, a person/persons must face trials and a near-death experience in their journey. I think that box has been ticked in the swamps and disease-Eden. Both Mark and Martin tread very close to death. They have been ‘brought down.’ When a questing character survives a death-like event then they have learned a lesson, discovered a truth, been touched by some form of power. The person rises from the dead. And here we find the phrase ‘So high had Eden raised him up.’ The lesson, the quest, the challenge of the quest has been met, and conquered. Martin learns the true value of the man Mark. Now, together, they can face the future together as one brave equal heart. They receive a talisman in the form of the roll of dollar notes. They have earlier received potions to bring them health. They now get I onto the steamboat and head for their future. To quote Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’ ‘… strong in will/To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’
We note that it is Martin who shouts to the parents ‘Courage! We shall meet again! … In the Old World.’ Martin is beginning to assume his rightful role in our narrative.
Mr Chollop, what can I say? He loves his liberty and has a guns, a knife and a sword stick to force his believe upon anyone who challenges him. The irony is quite something.
I was glad to read Plateresca’s anecdote about Frith and Dickens’s friendship. I think Frith is an under appreciated Victorian artist. They certainly had an impact on each other’s lives.
It’s often when one hits rock bottom that they encounter a turning point in their own behaviors from the past. It appears that sickness and near death has brought Martin to his realization of his mistakes. I’m with Kathleen and happy to be here with Martin. This trip to America seems frivolous in hindsight. Nothing positive has come from it except for Martin’s new look on life and himself. He even thinks of poor Mary’s situation and what she is having to endure when he left so carelessly and she probably gave him all she owned in the ring he sold. I guess I wanted or expected more substance from the America chapters - but it was doomed from the start and was never going to improve. It does seem like Dickens was reiterating much of what he wrote about in American Notes. I will be glad to have Martin and Mark back on English soil.
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Lori and Kathleen - I confess Martin's epiphany does make me smile 🙂He was such a self-centred prig before.
Bionic Jean wrote: "My favourite quotation is a brief one:“So low had Eden brought him down. So high had Eden raised him up.”"
This was my favorite quote, as well, Jean. It is so wonderful to see Martin's epiphany finally take place. As Kathleen notes in her post, there are differing terms for this step in the Hero's Journey. In one model, it is called the Abyss, a metaphorical death and rebirth. leading to transformation and atonement. We see this happen figuratively and almost literally with Martin, and the changes wrought in him are profound. The juxtaposition of the roles of deathly-ill patient and caregiver that he and Mark exchange with each other opens his eyes to his own nature, and he is finally able to see his own deficiencies. I love that his spirit has been so humbled and changed that he is unwilling to even discuss his own transformation as being too self-aggrandizing. The only drawback is that now Mark feels, once again, that his talents are not being fully challenged! :)
I LOVED this chapter! I did get quite a kick out of Hannibal Chollop. I laughed when he "was actively engaged in the formation of a magic circle round the chest on which he sat" (491). I also loved your chosen line, Kathleen, comparing his head to an old hearth broom!
Another masterful takedown of Americans which I found hilarious (even though I'm American, although of the non-spitting variety!): "Mr. Hannibal Chollop sat smoking and improving the circle, without making any attempts either to converse, or to take leave; apparently labouring under the not uncommon delusion, that for a free and enlightened citizen of the United States to convert another man's house into a spittoon for two or three hours together, was a delicate attention, full of interest and politeness, of which nobody could ever tire" (494-5).
Chollop's warning speech to Mark is also priceless: "I have know'd men Lynched for less, and beaten into punkin'-sarse for less, by an enlightened people. We are the intellect and virtue of the airth, the cream Of human natur', and the flower Of moral force. Our backs is easy ris. We must be cracked-up, or they rises, and we snarls. We shows our teeth, I tell you, fierce. You'd better crack us up, you had!" (495). The irony of people showing their "enlightenment" by beating others into "punkin'-sarse" is very humorous, as is this violent, ignorant, intolerant man's claims of being "the cream of human natur'" and the amalgam of all of the best traits to which people aspire. It is probably astonishing to an English visitor to find that the denizens of this country, which separated itself from England with the attitude of "we can do better than this!" display an air of such truculent superiority while simultaneously behaving with such uncouth boorishness. It seems that the violence is quite a culture-shock; while Dickens has introduced us to plenty of morally bankrupt villains in his books, such as Uriah Heep, James Carker, etc., none of them are exactly walking around brandishing guns and armed to the teeth with a variety of knives. As always, Dickens is able to find a source of humor even in this grim setting and dire circumstances.
My heart broke for the family that Mark was reunited with, and I hoped to the last word of the chapter that somehow, Mark and Martin would be able to take the poor, bereaved parents with them.
ETA: My post echoes Peter's--I think I was typing when he posted. The joys of retirement when your husband works from home--I swear it has taken me two hours to post this with the interruptions! :)
Hannibal Chollop seems like a one man wrecking crew, and by wrecking crew I mean that he seems a literary device used by Dickens to make a compelling point about the negatives he encountered in America. It surely was comedic to have Martin ducking from spit. And don’t speak too freely because in the land of freedom, this can get you in trouble. There is much here that I think Dickens wanted to get out of his system, and I think he did. I feel ready for a return home now. This all does not seem hospitable, not even remotely. And as usual with Dickens, I was not expecting this chapter in this way; though to be truthful, I had not sorted out in my mind what to expect. The family seemed plausible to reappear and we do see them again.
Chapter 33... what a chapter, what a turning point! It was almost too much information for one chapter. Too much to dissect!What a beautiful chapter Dickens wrote of Martin's inner turmoil of SELF and his determination to quietly change (without broadcasting it to Mark). He showed so much maturity. But what a sad chapter to watch Martin and Mark leave behind the remnants of the family they met on the Screw. I pray they are able to save them somehow.
I absolutely LOVED everyone's comments and observations. Of what has been discussed, I can only add my vote to the favorite quotation "So low had Eden brought him down. So high had Eden raised him up." I do believe this will become one of my all-time favorite literary quotations. It is such a profound statement on suffering and what we can learn from it, if we are willing.
One thing that finally struck me as I was reading this chapter concerned Dickens' repeated observation (both in MC and AN) that Americans often referred to another fellow American as "one of the most remarkable men in the country" (which he did again with Mr. Chollop). (I think this really irritated Dickens.) I remember commenting in AN that Dickens didn't take into account how young a country America was in 1840 (just a little over 50 years old). And it just struck me that Americans were probably trying to create heroes because there really were no "national" heroes yet, as the states had been individual autonomies until the Constitution was ratified in 1789. So it does make me wonder how much folklore we Americans have been taught about men like Daniel Boone, David Crockett, James Bowie, etc. were actually true, and how much of their legends were fabrications to make them even more "remarkable", as Dickens heard again and again. Again, Dickens is making me rethink what he observed on his visit to America and how much of America he really revealed -- again, like his observation (via Mr. Chollop) that freedom of speech may only work in one direction. LOL
Shirley, I think that is a good point about the remarkable man quote. At that point in time, fifty years was just a bucket in the well of centuries.
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This is an excellent point - as is all your post. I really appreciate that you are comparing your reaction to Martin Chuzzlewit with your feelings when reading American Notes for General Circulation, and sometimes modifying one or the other.
There were so many great comments on this long chapter … but before we move on, I do have to say to Cindy: I thoroughly enjoyed your post, and believe it is the best and most lucid you have ever written for us. Yes, I can well believe it took 2 hours. Bravo - and thank you! 👏
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In Which the Travellers Move Homeward, and Encounter Some Distinguished Characters Upon Their Way
Martin and Mark are on a steamboat going away from Eden. A tall gentleman approaches Martin and asks if he realises he is on a boat with Elijah Pogram, who is apparently a member of Congress. He introduces Martin to Elijah Pogram, who immediately asks him what he thinks of the United States. Martin replies that he can’t give Elijah Pogram the answer he wants. Pogram states that this is evidence of the British hatred of the U.S.
Mark joins the conversation, and Pogram takes any criticisms they have toward the U.S. as an attack on the country. During dinner, Martin and Elijah Pogram get into a full scale argument, where Martin unleashes his opinions of Americans and American culture.
Upon arriving back to where they first set off for Eden, Martin and Mark encounter Captain Kedgick. The captain is not particularly pleased to see them, and says that others too will be unhappy to see them back alive.
“Why, what the ’tarnal!” cried the Captain. “Well! I do admire at this, I do!” - - 1872
Elijah Pogram is invited to a meeting, where the men ask him questions about politics and the women observe. The citizens later reveal that they have erected a terrible marble statue of Pogram.
Martin and Mark sell the last of their supplies back to the store where they bought them. They receive a letter from Mr. Bevan asking them to come visit him at a hotel in New York, so they go to meet him. Martin apologises for having to beg Mr. Bevan for money. Mr. Bevan in turn apologises for unknowingly being the cause of their misfortune. Martin says they wouldn’t have got into so much trouble if he had only listened to Mark. He tells Mr. Bevan “live and learn … Nearly die and learn; we learn the quicker.”
Martin tells Mr. Bevan that they mean to return to England, and Mr. Bevan agrees that this is probably for the best. He tells Martin that the ship they came on, the Screw, is in port and sails tomorrow, but Martin says they can’t afford the passage. Mr. Bevan is happy to lend them more money. They both thank Mr. Bevan for his help, and he tells them that they can repay him by warning people about emigrating.
Mark goes to the ship, and comes back delighted. He tells Martin that they will hire him as their cook, because they need one and they remembered how he always cooked meals for others on their way out. He say that the wages he earns will pay for Martin’s passage. He also plans a great joke; to address a letter to leave behind for Mr. Bevan, including all the extra money he was lending them, which they will now no longer need.
On board the ship, Mark and Martin reflect on their experiences. Mark says that America is:
“like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity … ”
and Martin replies that it is also:
“like a Phoenix, for its power of springing from the ashes of its faults.”
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The danger is that Charles Dickens’s original English readers could interpret this as a description of a typical American. Indeed we have come across several like the bulIy Elijah Pogram, with his approval of lawlessness, long-winded and posturing speeches, and twisting of any ideas opposed to the Old World (e.g. slavery) as representing “freedom”. But we have met kind and intelligent American characters too!
It’s easy to see that Charles Dickens thought this ridicule would be entertaining, and more acceptable to his public than the true (but highly coloured) accounts in American Notes for General Circulation. The end is particularly pointed and savage, with a very clear analogy between qualities of different birds and the qualities of the United States. I was interested to see that the eagle is not one of the birds used in the comparison.
But I prefer the satirical portrait of the English folk earlier in the novel. I can see how the American section misfired, and meant that Charles Dickens had to write a Preface to his later publication of Martin Chuzzlewit, justifying his descriptions, and saying how much he admired the American people. (We will read this in just over a week, on 30th October with Plateresca.) There is a little hint of this in Martin’s final comment about the phoenix.
How about you? Did you enjoy it, or are you a little relieved that Charles Dickens seems to have completed the American portion of his story now?
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It’s also interesting that Martin’ reversal of character, his rejection of all he had been before, comes at exactly the same point as his rejection of America. Charles Dickens wrote to John Forster in August 1843: “Mark has made them all stark raving mad across the water”. But perhaps it’s time, as we leave Dickens’s America, to distil how these episodes all happened.
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About Dickens’s American episodes
Were these planned? Well yes and no. We’ve already looked at Martin’s sudden decision to go to America, but it was not as impromptu and reactive as it seems.
I’ve mentioned his contractual obligations and debts. In August 1841 Charles Dickens had half written Barnaby Rudge, but decided he needed to take a holiday from writing novels. He was finding himself too constrained by the harness imposed. Over the previous 5 years his serial fiction had been appearing regularly. As we saw during our group reads, there were many months where the Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby installments were written and published concurrently, (he wrote one in the morning and the other in the afternoon) which was extremely demanding of their author. Charles Dickens exhausted himself. So he decided to “pause for a year”, visit America, and then begin a new monthly serial to begin in November 1842. He was not to know that there was a trade depression in 1842, which seriously affected publishers.
After his return, and before he had written American Notes for General Circulation, he planned to use the Cornish coast as a setting, and went on an expedition to Cornwall with his friends John Forster, Daniel Maclise and Charles Stanfield, and the publication date was pushed on to January 1843. His theme was to be English life and manners, as said before, and the long title we still have but rarely use:
“The
Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit
His relatives, friends, and enemies.
Comprising all
His Wills and His Ways,
With an Historical record of what he did
and what he didn’t;
Shewing moreover who inherited the Family Plate,
who came in for the Silver spoons,
and who for the Wooden Ladles.
The whole forming a complete key
to the House of Chuzzlewit.”
had already been worked out in his mind. He also had a title-page motto, which he wanted to use to drive home the satire of the novel:
“Yourselves the Actors and Your Homes the Scenes”
which he had discarded from a blank verse prologue he was writing at the same time, but John Forster talked him out of putting it here.
Once Charles Dickens started, he once again felt the shackles, and wrote in November 1942 that he was “in the agonies of new harness”. But he was also so exhilarated with his creations of Pecksniff and Pinch and eager to try out their effects on the reader, that John Forster recorded the ink hardly being dry on the paper, before Charles Dickens rushed excitedly to read them to him.
He confided to John Forster in April 1843, that the decision to send Martin to America allowed him to “distil the sublimated essence of comicality” he had found there. This was also an attempt to to take up the challenge thrown down by what he called his “American Assailants”, who by now were outraged by American Notes for General Circulation.
Critics can never agree about the American episodes, with some being puzzled, and others finding them an unwelcome distraction from what they regard as the main story. Some regard them as inserted episodes, or a novel within a novel, and others view them as part of the whole novel; a new structure. At the time John Forster viewed the structure as flawed - but we need to read it all to decide what we think there. As mentioned before, Martin Chuzzlewit was a progression in Charles Dickens’s novels from the picaresque to something more structured, and more like what we expect from a 19th century novel. In retrospect it seems as if that the American episodes might have been an “unfortunate” inclusion at the time, although clearly now, from the group’s comments, we can derive a lot of entertainment from them. We will see when we read the prefaces and postscripts (or we may remember one from American Notes for General Circulation, where he stipulated that it be published in every edition for perpetuity) how Charles Dickenshimself felt about them in retrospect.
Should the Americans of the time have been as offended by the likes of Elijah Pogram, Jefferson Brick, the Watertoast Association and Mrs. Hominy as they were? Perhaps he was out of his time in exaggerating them quite so much. Now we see that Charles Dickens was using his skills to rouse our detestation of wicked practices by mocking them.
Everyone in a novel by Charles Dickens is a little larger than life, and he presented American individuals in this ludicrous, absurd way, to demonstrate characteristics he deplored, such as boasting and spitting, institutions such as slavery, as well as character types such as journalists and literary ladies and the events such as levees. All are recorded here, providing fodder for his satire, but much more.
John Forster says:
“He returned from America with wider views than when he started, and with more maturity of mind … it was the turning point of his career”.
It was not only the American characters Charles Dickens satirised, but also the English ones. As we have noticed, most of them are self-serving to various degrees, irrespective of whether they are English or American. Hannibal Chollop is the American equivalent of Seth Pecksniff: a hypocrite to his core. We will see more examples of this as the novel proceeds, and will be able to assess whether Dickens used his power of ridicule more for his American characters, than he did for his English ones.
For now, it’s no spoiler to use Pecksniff as a reference. As noted before, he has clear literary antecedents in Molière’s Tartuffe, and Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, as well as Ben Johnson's absurd characters. John Forster again:
“the notion of taking Peckshiff for a type of character was really the origin of the book, the design being to show more or less by every person introduced, the number and variety of humours and vices that have their roots in selfishness.”
Charles Dickens’s criticism of American attitudes was (and probably still is) far more unwelcome when it is taken to be representative of a whole country, rather than some larger-than-life individuals. But that is a huge topic, which will always remain a matter of opinion.
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“like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like a Magpie, for its honesty; like a Peacock, for its vanity … [and] like a Phoenix, for its power of springing from the ashes of its faults.”
Over to you!
Peter wrote: " Jean I’m exhausted even thinking where to begin to comment on this chapter. Excellent summary. Perhaps the quotation you provided:‘So low had Eden brought him down. So high had Eden raised him ..."
Many of the readers in the group expressed their admiration of this particular quotation. But, for myself, I found another somewhat longer quotation that caught my notice and summarized one of MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT's overarching themes brilliantly.
... it will usually be found that the meaner domestic vices propagate themselves to be their own antagonists. Selfishness does this especially; so do suspicion, cunning, stealth, and covetous propensities. Martin had unconsciously reasoned as a child, 'My guardian takes so much thought of himself, that unless I do the like by myself, I shall be forgotten.' So he had grown selfish. But he had never known it."
What an extraordinary succinct statement of the reality that selfishness and narcissism are bone deep and never self-aware.
I have to say I didn’t love this chapter, but not at all because of the criticism of Americans. I found Dickens’ characterizations familiar and funny with lots of truth to them, and certainly didn’t take them to be all-inclusive. I just find some of his minor characters more interesting than others, and these made me a little anxious to move on.So I'm glad the boys are on their way home, and I did love the end--the way Mark finagled a perfect way out.👍
Kathleen wrote: "I found Dickens’ characterizations familiar and funny with lots of truth to them, and certainly didn’t take them to be all-inclusive. "I have to add here that my belief that Dickens' criticisms are universal and all-inclusive means, IMO, that they are aimed collectively at a society, a culture, and the evolution of its (the culture's) beliefs and behaviour. That does not imply for a second that Dickens (or me, for that matter) believes that every individual in the culture reflects those criticisms.
Paul wrote: "Kathleen wrote: "I found Dickens’ characterizations familiar and funny with lots of truth to them, and certainly didn’t take them to be all-inclusive. "I have to add here that my belief that Dick..."
Absolutely agree, Paul. And by the way, I also loved that selfishness quote you mentioned above!
Bionic Jean wrote: "So my favourite quotation has to be the memorable summing-up of Dickens’s America, as reported by Martin and Mark, as:“like a Bat, for its short-sightedness; like a Bantam, for its bragging; like..."
Yes Jean these are my favourite lines as well, and, what a way to incorporate birds into the novel! I love it. Earlier in the chapter Pogram was ‘snapping up great blocks of everything he could get ahold of, like a raven.’ Ravens are birds of carrion. Not a flattering comparison. Let the birds, and the comparisons serve as a summary for much of Dickens’s opinions about Mark and Martin’s horrid experiences. That said, I think it important to realize that the last bird Dickens mentioned was the phoenix, a bird that arises from ‘its faults and vices, and [soars] up anew into the sky!’ Thus Dickens finishes on a note of hope for a better future.
While this chapter was certainly a rough and challenging one for both Mark and Martin Dickens portrays both as capable, patient, and thoughtful. Their actions are ones of maturity, their speech reflective of the results of the recent experiences.
They will be changed men as they step back into their lives in England. Together, I feel what they will face in the future will be met with equal strength and maturity.
Peter wrote: "They will be changed men as they step back into their lives in England. Together, I feel what they will face in the future will be met with equal strength and maturity. "I'm still a little bit confused about Dickens' investing Mark's personality with the need for hardship and difficulties in order to earn "credit". Mark has even openly suggested that living with Martin as a changed, less selfish man is a possible negative as seen in the light of his future abilities to earn that life credit!
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"... it will usually be found that the meaner domestic vices propagate themselves to be their own antagonists."
I finally chose the other, because of its bird imagery (which Peter also admired), and also because it followed on naturally from my information post about the American content.
I thought your view that Charles Dickens's criticisms "are aimed collectively at a society, a culture, and the evolution of its (the culture's) beliefs and behaviour" was very well expressed, and when we come to read the preface and postscript, no doubt we will go into this more deeply.
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Yes! And thanks for reminding us about the raven. I was puzzled by "like a Magpie, for its honesty" as I think of magpies as being attracted by shiny objects and hoarding them. Would Charles Dickens perhaps extend this to his dislike of the admiration of sharp "cute" business practises? No, the word used is honesty. Odd.
I had thought that the similes might all be condemnatory, but the final added one about the phoenix, overrides them all 🙂
Yes Jean I think if a person’s business practices extend to taking advantage of other person’s naivety or another’s gullibility and innocence then those who perpetrate that deception and those who allow it to occur are not honest.There is, of course, the oft said phrase ‘let the buyer beware’, but to live in a world that sanctions and even excuses such continued behaviour is not a good place.
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I found this chapter a mixed read. The Pogram section beginning to end seemed more heavy handed than usual for Dickens to me and I don’t think that has anything to do with my being American. I’m wondering if it may be partly because these “people” are really stereotypes with no other background than the limited amount we see in that short time. Even the swindlers who sold Martin the land in Eden were drawn more as characters, bad actors, yes, but not in the same way as Pogram.Another thing that keeps bugging me is that I find myself reading Pogram as Pogrom which makes me dislike him even more. Was the word pogrom used as we know it now during the 19th century. I know they happened in Russia but not if they were so labeled in other parts of Europe.
Hi SueI did a quick search on the word pogrom. It appears that it first began being used in the latter part of the 19C. Thus, that would suggest there is no link between the word pogrom and the character Pogram.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom
I didn’t like the Pogram character. I found him confusing. Half the time I couldn’t understand what was meant by his dialogue. I think it was supposed to be funny, but I guess I didn’t get the jokes. Or the irony, I guess. Seeing Mrs Hominy again didn’t improve the chapter for me. I just don’t like any of the people Martin and Mark meet in America. Other than Bevan. I’m so happy to move on. Thank goodness we are headed back to England.
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John - do you remember this being the case? It's almost as if he is reliving his emotions and thus not communicating the story as well. I wonder.
So let’s move on and hope for a lift in spirits …
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Mark and Martin return to England and are very happy to be home, delighting in the typically English scenery they have missed. They feel as if they have been away for twelve years rather than just one, but do notice a few small changes that have taken place in their absence.
Since they have little money, they head straight for a tavern, where they can sit and eat cheaply, enjoying watching the street and drinking their beer. They debate what their first step should be now that they are back in England. Mark suggests seeing Mary first, but Martin points out that he doesn’t know where she is. So Mark says that if they go to the Dragon, they will be able to get the news from Mrs. Lupin and Tom Pinch. Mark says that he can go by himself to find out, if Martin prefers not to be seen.
However they realise that they will have to walk most of the way, getting a lift where they can, as they cannot afford to pay for a ride. As they are discussing their journey, they are astonished to see Mr. Pecksniff walk by.
“Mr. Pecksniff. Placid, calm, but proud … . . gently travelling across the disc, as if he were a figure in a magic lantern - Fred Barnard - 1872
They watch, dumbfounded, as the landlord goes out into the street to talk to Mr. Pecksniff.
“In spite of the indignation with which this glimpse of Mr. Pecksniff had inspired him, Martin could not help laughing heartily. Neither could Mark.”
After Mr. Pecksniff leaves, they approach the landlord and ask why Mr. Pecksniff is in town. The landlord says that Mr. Pecksniff is a great architect and has come to lay the first stone for a new public building. The ceremony is about to begin immediately. Martin and Mark hurry off to watch the ceremony. The crowds are cheering and waving, the Mayor and Corporation all cluster round the member for the Gentlemanly Interest, who introduces Mr. Pecksniff to the adoring throng. He then takes a silver trowel and is so gentleman-like as he adds the mortar to lay the ceremonial stone. The crowds are in awe of the whole dignified proceedings. Agitated, Martin presses nearer to see the plans for the building.
He is incensed when he realises that these are plans he created and drew for a grammar school. Boiling with rage, Martin expostulates to Mark:
“I invented it. I did it all. He has only put four windows in, the villain, and spoilt it!”
Mark restrains him from doing something stupid. Martin becomes very bitter, but Mark tells him to be positive and trust that the situation will turn out all right in the end.
“‘You are the best master in the world, Mark,’ said Martin, ‘and I will not be a bad scholar if I can help it,”
so Martin resolves himself to follow Mark’s advice.
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Here we have more evidence that Charles Dickens does not restrict his sarcasm and ridicule to the American characters. Those prominent in this chapter are also pompous poseurs; and just as hilarious figures of fun in their own way as their American counterparts. Wherever there is a chance for Charles Dickens to poke the finger of fun, he will!
And it has just occurred to me that it is Pecksniff - an English character - who is the plagiarist here too!
Dickensians!
Books mentioned in this topic
Oliver Twist (other topics)Martin Chuzzlewit (other topics)
American Notes for General Circulation (other topics)
American Notes for General Circulation (other topics)
Martin Chuzzlewit (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Patricia Ingram (other topics)
Gerhard Joseph (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
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I loved that line, too!
Chiming in very late here. I wanted to read this book with the group but have been behind on a number of things, so am hoping at least to jump in now for most of the second half.
Jean comments that "each of the Pecksniff family is totally concerned with self!" and while I think that's true, I also think it's interesting that the selfishness when it comes to Merry and Cherry is so focused for each of them on the other: each seems to want to have victory over her sister as a goal, so in a way, for each of them her sister is the person in the world who matters most. It's like a twisted kind of love.