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DOMBEY AND SON
By CHARLES DICKENS T HIS story opens in the gloomy mansion of Mr. Dombey, head of the famous house of Dombey and Son, who is exulting in the birth of "little Paul," heir to his name and wealth. This great event is followed by the death of Mrs. Dombey, who breathes her last clasping her little daughter Florence to her heart. This child, neglected by her proud, cold father, tries vainly to win his love, but he, with all his hopes and his affection centered upon his son, finds no place in his heart for Florence. All the advantages that wealth can offer are heaped on little Paul, who is a delicate child, old far beyond his years, and totally unfitted to fulfil his father's expectations. While gentle and loving to those about him, Paul's adoration for his sister Florence surpasses all his other interests, a fact which rankles in the breast of his father, who would be first in the affection of his son. Wishing to hasten Paul's education, Mr. Dombey sends him to Doctor Blimber's school, famed for its method of crushing out each boyish trait and making learned prigs of all its pupils. Here the boy finds a friend and champion in Toots, the head boy of the school, who falls a victim to the charms of Florence, but in the end consoles himself by marrying her faithful maid, the sprightly Susan Nipper. The story of Paul's life at Doctor Blimber's, where his weak frame is tried beyond endurance and finally breaks down, is a pathetic one, although it is enlivened by much that is amusing and absurd in the descriptions of the school and of the Blimber family. Fatally ill, the boy is carried home to the pig house, where all the skill in London, coupled with his sister's devotion, cannot save him, and after lingering awhile he slips away from the grand future his father has so carefully arranged. The death-bed scene where little Paul leaves the big house for-ever is one of the most famous in fiction. Clasped in his sister's arms, the dying boy murmurs : "How fast the river runs . . . it's very near the sea. I hear the waves." ... "And now there was a shore before him-Who stood on the bank." He sees his mother there awaiting him and whispers, `The light about her head is shining on me as I go." The bereaved father, in an agony of grief and blasted hopes, turns coldly from the heartbreaking appeal of his sorrowing daughter, who pleads for some response in this dark hour. Bidding her seek her own apartments, he shuts himself up in his rooms alone. Beside the dark threads in this story are woven many bright ones which center in the humble dwelling of old Solomon Gills, maker of ships' instruments, and his devoted nephew, Walter Gay, who with their good friend Captain Cuttle form a delightful trio. The captain, who wears a hook in place of his right hand, and suffers patiently under the insults and abuse of his landlady, the terrible Mrs. MacStinger, is one of Dickens's best-beloved characters. Walter, who has a modest position in the great house of Dombey, watches with sympathy and admiration the career of the neglected daughter of his employer, and upon one occasion has the joy of rescuing her when she is lost in London. From the night when the frightened child is warmed and comforted at the sign of the "Wooden Midshipman" Florence holds Uncle Sol and Walter in warmest regard. When, later, during Paul's illness, Walter comes to plead for a loan to save his uncle's property, the sympathetic boy at once becomes his champion and secures the money from his father. From this time on Paul takes a special interest in Walter and on his death-bed begs that he shall be remembered. This message Florence brings to Walter, pledging to him thenceforth her sisterly affection. The fortunes of the house of Dombey are guided principally by the clever and "cat-like" manager, James Carker, with gleaming teeth and a perpetual smile, the instrument and confidant of Dombey, who by his flattery and cunning has gained almost complete control over his master's business. Working always to satisfy his own ambitions, he mistrusts the growing partiality for Walter Gay and sends him on a voyage to the Indies, ex- periencing keen satisfaction when the youth is shipwrecked and reported drowned. This loss adds one more sorrow to those already the portion of Florence, whose father, emerging from the gloom of his apartments, seeks to divert his mind by going on a journey with his friend Major Bagstock, a garrulous old society beau. They travel to Leamington, where Mr. Dombey is introduced to some of the major's friends, and meets Mrs. Skewton and her widowed daughter, the cold and beautiful Edith Granger, who at once attracts his fancy. Edith is proud, scornful, imperious, and for these traits the proud and dominating man admires her the more. He offers her wealth and position, and she, needing these things, accepts him, scorning meanwhile both the man and his offering, but willing to satisfy the irritating demands of her scheming mother, with whom her life is unendurable. A loveless marriage follows and the haughty wife asserts her own strong will, refuses to further the social ambitions of her husband, and enrages him by showering affection upon Florence. At last, goaded by Dombey's effort to break her spirit and ready to be revenged upon him for his endeavor to humiliate her by orders sent her through his agent, Carker, she consents to fly from her home at the entreaty of her husband's paid minion, who from the first had fallen a victim to her beauty. Having revenged herself upon her husband by thus humiliating him, Edith proceeds to cast off Carker, whom she despises; she meets him at Dijon by appointment, and in the moment when he is glorying in the attainment of his desire turns on him, denounces him, and before he can stop her rushes from the apartment, making good her escape, while he is left to confront his pursuer, her enraged husband, who has tracked them to Dijon. Foiled and entrapped, Carker flees back to England, eluding his pursuer, only to be again tracked to his hiding-place. When he believes himself safe from detection, he suddenly spies Dombey advancing toward him across the platform of a railway station, and, dodging in affright on to the tracks behind him, Carker is killed by an oncoming train. In the hour of her father's humiliation Florence once more turns to him with loving protestations, but he, enraged at the remembrance that she has ever won the love he has sought vainly, casts her off with an oath and strikes her brutally. Partially stunned and feeling herself home-less and fatherless, Florence rushes half crazed into the streets of London, and, fainting with exhaustion, finds shelter at the "Wooden Midshipman," now in the charge of Captain Cuttle. Following the sudden disappearance of old Sol Gills, the captain has taken possession of the place, not knowing if his friend, whose life had become insupportable without his beloved nephew, was alive or dead. Tenderly welcomed to this humble home, Florence remains in hiding until the unexpected arrival of Walter, who suddenly appears upon the scene, returning from a series of perilous adventures. Walter the brother is speedily transformed into Walter the lover, and the young couple are united, to the delight of Captain Cuttle, also of old Sol Gills, who reappears from journeying to foreign parts in vain search for some news of Walter. Meanwhile the fortunes of the house of Dombey, weakened by Carker's doubtful transactions, and also by the loss of his shrewd guidance, go down in ruin, leaving the proud head of the firm broken in health and spirit, with home and fortune wrecked. Then, tenderly forgiving all, Florence goes to her father and takes him to her home, where after a long illness he arises a changed man, repentant of the past, and only caring to devote his last days to his daughter and her two children-Paul who reminds him of his lost son, and little Florence, dearest of all to his penitent heart. This work, which was first issued in serial form in 1847, met with immediate success. Its pages contain a wealth of incident and character, of fun, satire, and pathos. Florence is one of Dickens's loveliest creations, and Doctor Blimber's school is described in his finest vein. Kind Captain Cuttle is famous the world over, as are Mr. Toots, Mrs. Pip-chin, and old Joe Bagstock. The death-bed scene of little Paul reveals the author's steadfast faith in immortality, and has done much to comfort sorrowing hearts through out the world. |