Page 256 - DENG404_FICTION

Fiction

Notes After the interview, Paul and his mother have dinner in an eating-house, where it turns out
that the food is more expensive than they realized; they order the cheapest dish possible. After
dinner they wander around the town, look at some shops, and buy a few things. Paul is happy
with his mother.

Task What will life be like at the Morel’s now that William is in London ?

The next day he applies for a season ticket for the train. When he returns and tells his mother
how much it will cost, she says that she wishes William would send them some money to help
pay for things like the ticket.
Meanwhile, William is becoming a gentleman in London and is beginning to see a girl, Louisa
Lily Denys Western, whom he calls Gipsy. He asks her for a photograph to send to his mother,
and when the photo comes it shows her with bare shoulders. Mrs. Morel comments to William
that she does not think the photo is appropriate, and the girl sends another one in which she
is wearing an evening gown. Mrs. Morel is still not impressed.
The next Monday morning, Paul goes off to work on the train. He arrives at the factory and
is introduced to his boss, Pappleworth. Pappleworth shows him how to fetch and copy letters,
to write out orders and invoices, and to make up parcels for shipping. He also introduces him
to some of the other people who work in the factory, and Paul gets along best with the
women, like Polly, the overseer of the sewing crew, and the hunchback Fanny, who works in
the finishing-off room. He becomes friends with many of the women and grows to like his job
at Jordan’s.

Analysis

We can see the way the narrative perspective has shifted from that of Mrs. Morel to that of
Paul through the way Mrs. Morel’s trip to the hospital is narrated. The narrator describes
Mrs. Morel leaving for the hospital, and then he describes her returning; the events that happen
outside of the house seem to be outside the narrative field of vision. However, this is not the
case later in this chapter, when Paul goes to Nottingham to work. This suggests that Paul has
become the primary focus of the narration.

This chapter contains further examples of the identification between Paul and Mrs. Morel:
Paul comforts her, and talks to her every day. It seems as if their identification is extended to
the point that they are sharing the same life, and this is a motif that will continue through the
rest of the novel.
We also see further evidence of Mrs. Morel’s disappointment in William, her favorite, in this
chapter. She has been previously disappointed in William when he takes up dancing, and here
she is disappointed that he does not send them money. She also disapproves of the girl he is
seeing and the pictures that she sends.

Chapter 6: Death in the Family

Summary
This chapter begins with a description of Arthur, and tells how, as he grows older, he comes
to detest his father. All of the children follow this same trend until they all loathe him. Arthur
wins a scholarship to the school in Nottingham, and his mother decides to let him live in town
with one of her sisters because of his adversarial relationship with his father. Annie is a
teacher in the Board-school, and Mrs. Morel clings to Paul.

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