| Summary of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens |
Chapters Twenty Six to Twenty Nine
Ch 27
Ch 28
Ch 29
7:44 PM - 24/3/2007 - comments {0} - post commentChapters Twenty Two to Twenty FiveChapter 22It is not long before the news spreads around that Martin & Mark have made a substantial purchase of land in the valley of Eden. This seems to give Martin some sort of celebrity status for next morning he finds that he has received several speaking engagements which he refuses. However much to his better judgement he finds himself committed to receive a gathering that afternoon from another Watertoasters group. A large steady stream of men seem for hours to call, each shaking his hand until he was quite exhausted. The last straw was a long tiring one way conversation with Mrs Hominy who, as he was told, was a well known and famous philosopher and authoress. Meanwhile Mark was busy preparing buying provisions for their long riverboat journey up to the Valley of Eden. The next day after many delays the boat is about ready to depart. Mark has disappeared and Martin is extremely anxious but Mark has gone back to make a last minute inquiry because he is curious why Martin has generated so much interest...Why? replies Captain Kedgick, why because Scadder is a smart man, and--and-- nobody as goes to Eden ever comes back alive!' Ch 23 Martin and Mark are on their steamboat heading for Eden, Martin sets off in good spirits, Mark is cautious but is his cheerful and amusing self. Gradually most of the passengers disembark over the next few days, Martin observes the landscape becoming more and more inhospitable, eventually they are the only passengers, Martin is already showing some signs of concern which only increases as they arrive at their destination. One lone soul is on the embankment he looks ill, poor and destitute. he escorts them to their run down cabin and it begins to dawn on Martin that they are a victim of a fraud, it is now obvious that Eden is far from being Paradise. Ch 24 Old Martin & Mary arrive suddenly at Mr. Pecksniff's home with little warning, the three talk for a short time about Anthony's death, Pecksniff invites Jonas to join in the conversation to assure Chuzzlewit that he is in mourning for the death of his father. Charity and Mercy struggle for different reasons, to appear natural about the situation about Jonas. Eventually Chuzzlewit requests that Tom be allowed to escort them back to The Dragon for the evening is now upon them. On the way back from the village as he reaches a style Tom is confronted by Jonas who ridicules Tom eventually threatening him for seemingly befriending Chuzzlewit. Tom denies any impropriety and as Jonas lunges towards Tom with a heavy stick Tom catches him by surprise with a sudden defensive move which results in a heavy blow to his forehead. The repentant Tom escorts him back to Pecknsiffs where with much fuss and bother the wound is attended to. Tom much disconcerted by the incident retires to bed, there is a knock on his door, Charity, who guesses that the blow to Jonas' head was from Tom requests to confide with Tom that she seeks, if he will allow, to be his genuine friend. Over the next couple of days Tom bumps into Mary Graham on whom he has a secret romantic crush, Mary who seems to be aware of his feelings carefully avoids when she can any conversation so as to not give Tom any false hopes. About the same time, Merry, sitting under a tree in the church yard and who is becoming more miserable each day finds Chuzzlewit approaching her, the conversation leads to Merry confessing her dislike of any thought of marrying Jonas but in her stubborn pride she says she will go ahead, somehow in her mind she believes she can conquer and punish Jonas by making the marriage a farce, Martin suggests she should reflect on the wisdom or not of going through with it but Mercy stubbornly refuses to back away. As Chuzzlewit leaves Jonas arrives demanding she set a date for the wedding, they argue, Mercy refuses to set the date, leaving him sullen and angry his black heart planning violent ultimate revenge. Ch 25 Mr Mould the undertaker is relaxing in his parlour with his lovely chubby wife and almost equally chubby adult daughters when he has a unexpected visitor - Mrs Gamp who is respected by Mr. Mould as she is often in the position to recommend his services to her customers. Mr. Mould inquires about the health of Mr. Chuffey whom Mrs Gamp is nursing during the day, she asks if he minds if she takes on another paid nursing job, this one `nightwatching' a 12 hour shift from 8pm to 8am. The request for help came via her landlady to help take care of a very ill male tenant down at the local public house. Mr Mould thinks it will be ok but suggest she does not tell Jonas Chuzzlewit who is employing her to care for Chuffey during the day. Mrs Gamp arrives at The Bull hotel finding the Landlord in discussion about the sick man with a young stranger. They are discussing the situation, the stranger has been brought into the picture because they found a note in the stragers room which his with his address. The young stranger turns out to be John Westlock. He agrees to pay all medical expenses even though he has only seen the sick man a couple of times since they spent some time at school together as boys. Mrs Gamp goes upstairs to relieve Mrs Prig of her day nurse duties, organises all she requires for the night, including some refreshments both solid and liquid. All goes well until in the middle of the night Mrs Gamp who sleeps on a chair by the bed is woken up by the disturbed sick man counting faces he gets up to several hundred before falling back into a restless sleep. Suddenly Mrs Gamp is woken again by a cry of anguish from the man - he utters a name which in her half sleep she recognises to her surprise as the familiar name - "Chuzzlewit| ! 7:38 PM - 24/3/2007 - comments {0} - post commentChapters Eighteen to TwentyoneChapter 18It is a cold day and Anthony, Jonas and Chuffey are keeping warm near a fireplace with a very small fire. Anthony reprimands his father for stoking the fire. Jonas makes some tea and `kindly' helps his father take sips of it from his Rule Britannica teaspoon. Jonas appears particularly angry as Chuffey seems to be particularly supportive of his master whom Jonas keeps suggesting is far to old. After a while Jonas retreats to the office area where he unlocks a special drawer and looks with a sneer at a will which outlines the provision of a small annual annuity for Chuffey. He is startled by the suddenly ghostly appearance of Seth Pecksniff who wishes to discus business with him. They return to the parlor room where Jonas leaves Pecksniff and Anthony together. Anthony converses sneeringly about the seeming nuptial desires between Jonas and Charity (Cherry) With very little warning Anthony appears to fall into a very very deep sleep, and just as Jonas returns, Pecksniff is unable to wake him. Jonas and he discuss his daughters when they hear a strange gasping noise and turn to see Anthony has crashed to the floor in a strange fit. A doctor is called and they carry him unconscious to bed, Jonas requests that Pecksniff stay as he feels some people might think he is responsible for his father's death. Next morning a ghastly Anthony appears causing Jonas to shriek in fear. They place him in a chair but it is too late - he is dead! Chapter 19: It is the week before the funeral of Anthony Chuzzlewit, and Pecksniff has taken a family hand to help Jonas with the funeral arrangements and arrange for someone to assist in Night Watching over the late Anthony. The name Pecksniff has been given to employ, is Mrs Gamp, who is a very unusual character indeed always talking about her friend Mrs Harris. Mrs Gamp is not expensive but needs a constant supply of vitals but specially of the liquid kind. In the days before the funeral Jonas seems particularly stressed and anxious to get things over and done with. At last the day arrives and Mr. Mould brings his team of horses and and men to undertake Anthony to his final resting place, the only person who seems to be in genuine mourning is old Chuffey which seems to disconcert Jonas, however to his relief eventually Anthony is six feet under and he can be seen returning to his more normal un palatable self Chapter 20 It is now after the funeral and Jonas is fully his own pleasant self, he takes the opportunity to discus with Seth his plan to marry one of his daughters, he indicates that this will be Charity, between them they agree that Pecksniff will pay a dowry of some £5000. The two men mutually agree that they will return to Salisbury and surprise the girls. Tom Pinch is away apparently in the village, but the four have some supper, afterwards they all retire to the parlor where Pecksniff excuses himself for a short time to attend to some business affairs. This leaves Jonas with the girls, Mercy seizes her opportunity to leave, however Jonas forces her back into the room and sits them both down beside him, he humiliates Charity by announcing that it is Mercy whom he wishes to marry and proposes to her, Charity in tears flees the room, Mercy tries to follow but is violently restrained by Jonas, she slaps his face and refuses his offer, breaks away returning to her Charity. Pecksniff who seems to care more for the Chuzzlewit fortune than his own daughters, aquieses to Jonas' demands, for a further £1,000 dowry above the previous £5,000, Pecksniff hardly has time to recover when Tom Pinch bursts in announcing that Martin Chuzzlewit accompanied by Mary are arriving any second, Pecksniff turns pale with utter dismay. Chapter 21 Martin and Mark are on a train journey seeking the Valley of Eden, they apparently have had good advice from Mr. Bevan that Eden is a new place with prospects of making them some money. As they chat about Eden a few of their fellow passengers join in the conversations about the Old Mother Country where there is some polite disagreement between Martin and the passengers about the residency of the Queen. One of the passengers who seems to be an important man introduces himself as General Choke, Martin is pleased as this is the gentleman recommended by Mr. Bevan as a man of influence and impartiality who will help them find an honest agent should they seek to invest in real estate. The train terminates at the National Hotel where they take a room and have their evening meal. General Choke also invites them to attend, the next day, the Great Meeting of the Water Toaster Sympathizers. They discuss finance, Martin has about £8 plus about £14 he has from pawning Mary's ring ! Marks savings are about £38 so Martin `generously' suggest they share the full pool and he will grant Mark 50% of a business company which they could form. Martin also appoints himself to be the major decision maker. Next morning General Choke introduces them to his friend the estate agent Mr. Scadder. Oddly Mr. Scadder seems to have two faces, the brighter of the faces he usually points towards Martin. He shows Martin a plan of the city of Eden which impresses Martin considerably. Mark appears, much to Martin s annoyance rather skeptical, however as chief decision maker, it is Martin who enthusiastically agrees that they should go ahead and make a cash purchase of a block of land in Eden. Martin's spirits are now on a whole time high as they attend with General Choke the Great Meeting of the Watertoaster Sympathizers. The General reads his letter to the meeting which was addressed to Public Man In Ireland. The letter emphasizes that America is the land of The Free. Just as he concludes reading his letter the general is handed a note that has just arrived from overseas. The note states that The Public Man In Ireland has now turned and become an advocate of black African/American emancipation ! This causes tremendous anger that they should be associated with such a morally reprehensible concept and so they all vote to devolve their Association. 5:45 PM - 8/3/2007 - comments {0} - post commentChapters Fourteen to SeventeenChapter 14
5:31 PM - 8/3/2007 - comments {0} - post commentChapters Eleven to ThirteenChapter 11The Pecksniffs are nearing the end of their stay in London when The Young Bailey announces that there is a visitor waiting to see Charity. Charity is somewhat disappointed to find that the visitor is the rather unpleasant Jonas Chuzzlewit. He invites the sisters to spend the day and evening with him as he takes them for walks around London ending up at Anthony Chuzzlewit (Jonas' fathers home/office) Jonas comes across as being not only unpleasant but also rather miserly as he is reluctant to spend anything to entertain the girls. They eventually arrive at Jonas' house and we notice that Jonas is abusive to his father and to their elderly clerk Chuffey. We notice also that even though it is Charity that he professes attention with, his manner it is really Mercy whom he cannot take his eyes and hands off. Mercy appears to repelled by his attention. The evening is spent dubiously playing card games and the time is late. Jonas offers to walk the girls back to Todgers, he puts his arm around each girl - talks to Charity but inappropriately squeezes and touches Mercy. When they arrive Mercy dashes away as quickly as she can. The chapter ends with an amusing account of the departure of the girls much to the distress of all the young men (especially The Youngest Gentleman) Chapter 12 The scene in Chapter 12 is the Pecksniff residence a day or so before the return of the family from London. We have very friendly conversations between Martin and Tom though we notice that Tom is more condescending to Tom than the previous pupil John Westlock, nevertheless Martin and Tom are on the best of terms and friendship. Tom mentions that he has just heard from Westlock that he has been granted capital and a reasonable income and would like to pay Tom a brief visit to discuss old times and new times. Tom invites Martin to accompany him to Salisbury where Westlock will be staying for a short time. They both enjoy the long brisk walk into town where they meet Westlock at the Inn where he is staying. Martin and John immediately `hit it off' together and the three have a great time of friendship. We notice that when John is compared with Martin he seems a bit more generous in his relationship with Tom than Martin is. Martin admires John's independent adventurous spirit as he discusses his future plans to journey to the USA. The two men discuss Pecksniff and John confides in Martin some of the hard truths about his unfortunate treatment at his hand. John generously pays for their nights accommodation. The next day Tom and Martin return home soon after arriving they have news that the Pecksniffs are arriving back that evening. On arrival Pecksniff constantly rudely treats Martin as if he is invisible. As the evening progresses what at first was an incredulous shock is quickly turning into anger. Only by standing in front of his face can Martin get Pecksniff to acknowledge him. This close invasion of his personal space causes Pecksniff to pathetically fall over backwards into a corner. Martin is furious, storms out of the house into the rain taking nothing. Tom runs after him pleading with him to at least take a book he hands over to him. Chapter 13 Martin is struggling with his pride being smashed by Pecksniff, as he tramps his way towards London he tries to come to grips with the sudden and deceitful blow of Pecksniffs betrayal. He stops, reads Toms note and with the dawning of the significance of his sacrificial gift of financial help he finds an affordable inn to recover his strength. He bargains with a van driver for transportation to London and they have conversations about the new world across the Atlantic Ocean. Martin starts to feel he, like Westlock should adventure to this new world. He finds temporary lodgings and seeks to see if he can pawn his only item of value his expensive pocket watch. While doing so he comes again in contact with Montague Tigg, Martin accepts a three pounds pawn for the watch but is unimpressed with Tigg's ovations even if he claims to have separated himself from his old friend Slyme. The three pounds is enough to obtain better lodgings but not enough to obtain some sort of passage to America. Weeks go by and his finances are nearly depleted when his landlord says there is a letter for him by name. The letter is anonymous but contains a new 20 pound note, Martin has no idea who is responsible for this huge generosity. There is a knock at his door and the surprising visitor is Mark Tapley who is looking for work and wishes to be of some service to Martin. Mark is enthusiastic that they both could maybe journey together to America. Mark because of his contacts with Tom and Todgers lets Martin know that he has seen Mary and agrees to take a letter to Mary as Mark is sure that he knows how she can be contacted. Now, Martin has new hope that he can share with Mary that there is a future, and a possibility that he can make his fortune in the New Land 7:45 AM - 20/2/2007 - comments {0} - post commentChapters Six to TenCh 6
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Chapter 10 3:57 PM - 16/2/2007 - comments {1} - post commentChapters One to FiveCh 1
Ch 2
Ch 3
Ch 4
Ch 5 3:31 PM - 16/2/2007 - comments {0} - post comment |
Description Brief Summary of each chapter Home User Profile Archives Friends Recent Entries - Chapters Twenty Six to Twenty Nine - Chapters Twenty Two to Twenty Five - Chapters Eighteen to Twentyone - Chapters Fourteen to Seventeen - Chapters Eleven to Thirteen |