I want to start off by saying that Caddy's wedding could have been summed up in no more than 3 sentences. After 400 pages I understand that Mrs. Jellyby is a really huge mess due to her philanthropist work. Esther spend too much time narrating her wedding. It was the same scene as the one when we first meet them, just under different circumstances. Congrats Caddy!
Mrs. Woodcourt is an evil manipulator. I felt so bad for Esther when she said her son's kindness towards women were just him being nice, and ALL of them took it as something else. Poor Esther, this lady just went over there to ruin Esther's kind heart. I really like Mr. Woodcourt, I hope this lady dissapears some where and Esther and him can reunit and start a passionate romance. But now Esther is DISFIGURED!
Before I comment on this desease, WHERE IS JO??? This better not be his ending, but with Charley and Esther almost dying I dont know what could have happened to him in such a bad state.
I wonder how bad Esther looks now, because im pretty sure she was as good looking as her mother, since everyone seems to think they look so much alike. She should have had more confidence in herself, and stop looking so much at Ada. Im also pretty sure Esther was better looking than her. Im glad both Charley and Esther are better, I knew Esther couldn't die in the middle of the book, but I was a little nervous for Charley. I think she is some one to admire.
Now on to Krook... how bad does some one need to be inside to explode in such a way? I wonder what Krook found in those letters that led to his explosion. Maybe everyone was underestemating him, and he did teach himself how to read. I would love to read those letters because it sounds like the information is JUICY!
The Smallweeds, Mr. Turkinhorn, and Lady Deadlock are all conspiring something together. This novel is getting really interesting. I hope more people explode...Mrs.Woodcourt, Lady Deadlock, her lawyer, and Mr. Skimpole.
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Good question, Karla. I would imagine you have to be pretty bad to spontaneously combust. But it is also the nature of the evil that results in such a death (this goes back to what we were saying in class -- what would the difference be if here were murdered? or took his own life?). Krook's death is the result of a profound-keeping-it-all-in (like his store in which things are bought and not sold). There is something about his reluctance to participate in any kind of exchange, any kind of social contract, that is at the heart of Dickens's meaning here.
ReplyDeleteI also think that it was a crazy thought to have someone just combust without anything being the cause of it. I seems as we stated in class that Dickens is showing that once to many things are collected in one place (like Mr. Krooks) store that it will eventually get too full and spill out all over the place. Dickens seem to show this with Mr. Krooks store and his life so that may have been the reason that he only had Mr. Krook combust. This also shows how Dickens associate the places in Chancery with tthe people who owns them or live there.
ReplyDeleteI alos think that Esther may be prettier than Ada and I would like to see how much damages the scars gave her since she thinks that Mr. Woodcourt would not want to be with her. Mrs. Woodcourt should just leave Esther alone because she can not decide who her son is going to be with. Although Esther may not have come from money she did not have to make her feel as though she is not good enough for Mr. Woodcourt.
Esther has felt protective of Caddy. Her devoting so much space in her narrative to Caddy is like a mother boasting, showing how proud she is of her child.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Woodcourt is the cliché ‘mother-in-law’. No one is good for her son. Or at least no one who is not high on the aristocracy ladder. As for the reunion of Esther and Allan- I do not think that her scars would prevent those two from being together.
I’m wondering about Jo too. I do not think that he could have left on his own, the door was locked on the outside and the other way out looked like no one touched it. Some one had to have let him out and made him ‘move on’. Who do you think was it? I mean he couldn’t have just disappeared.
As for Krook- why do you think Dickens killed him NOW? Why destroy the letters too? Are they destroyed or might they show up somewhere later on?
Good point, Vonycke, about the relationship between environment character. You are right on. And good points, Ilona, about Jo and Krook. Jo certainly is on the move again, sick as a dog, and to what effect the reader must wonder. I also think derailing the blackmail plot (if that is even what it was) at this point is an interesting choice in terms of the text (sort of like Esther's illness happening in the same installment).
ReplyDeleteI think Mr. Krook dying brings the story together. I feel like things are beginning to unravel and for good reason. It is becoming more and more interesting and it is keeping me reading so I am enjoying the plot thickening.
ReplyDeleteMr. Krook exploding is very symbolic and it seems like it is setting the tone for the rest of the story. In the real world, it is nearly impossible for people to spontaneously combust, and in the cases where spontaneous combustion has been the suspected culprit, it was attributed to one thing; smoking. Obviously Mr. Krook never smoked, he just collected all the trash and leftovers in London. Much like the effects that smoking has on the human body, it was obviously too much for him to handle.
ReplyDeleteTo go back to the relationship between character and enviornment, Krook's combustion is a result of his consumption. Instead of making any exchanges, Krook continued to collect and store and as a result, he combusted. Similarly, Esther's inner scarring seems to have exploded on her face. Throughout the novel, she consumes her emotions from everyone, including the readers, and perhaps that is the reason why her inner scars are now visible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sifat. I think that all of the burdens that both Krook and Esther carry have overwhelmed their bodies. Esther is always helping others and taking on their problems and in turn she becomes sick, maybe sicker than those she was taking care of. The scarring on her face is like a reminder of her self neglect.
ReplyDeleteI hope Esther's appearance gets better later in the story. I feel so bad for her for her going through so much in her life. The last thing she needs is an ugly face. I don't want her to have her heart broken anymore, especially after getting rejected by her mother AND her love interest. I think Dickens is overdoing the painful experience with Esther.
ReplyDelete