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Book 1, Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Our Mutual Friend, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Society, Class, and Character
Greed and Corruption
Marriage, Adoption, and Family
Education vs. Real-World Experience
Misfits and Outcasts
Summary
Analysis
Mortimer leaves the dining room with the messenger boy, Charley Hexam, who wrote the note at the request of his father, Gaffer. Eugene Wrayburn, a barrister (court lawyer), comes with them. Mortimer, who is himself a solicitor (a type of lawyer) asks Charley questions about John, like if he’s certain the man is fully dead. Charley agrees to take them to Gaffer’s house.
When Mortimer and Eugene arrive at Gaffer’s, Gaffer explains that he found the body (earlier with Lizzie) but already gave the body to the police. When Mortimer and Eugene learn that John’s pockets were empty, turned inside out, Gaffer notes that this isn’t unusual—he shows the men some other bodies that he found in a similar condition.
This passage implies that Gaffer is the one who turns the dead men’s pockets inside out, as he scavenges them for anything useful. Gaffer’s way of making a living forces him to confront death frequently, showing the precariousness of lower-class life in London.
Themes
Mortimer and Eugene go to the local police station and see the Inspector, who shows them a body that seems to be John’s based on the clothes. A stranger is there, seemingly looking for someone among the bodies, but when the Inspector asks him questions, the man gets defensive and decides to leave. The stranger claims not to have a card but gives his name as Julius Handford and leaves an address. As soon as Julius Handford leaves, the suspicious Inspector asks one of his men to tail the stranger back to confirm that Julius gave the correct address.
Our Mutual Friend has some elements of a mystery novel, a genre that was still relatively new (with Sherlock Holmes debuting a couple decades after this novel, for instance). This passage introduces a mysterious figure who seems to be connected to the case. Notably, Julius Handford has the same initials as John Harmon, implying some connection. This passage also hints at issues of social class, demonstrating how the body of well-to-do John Harmon prompts a serious investigation, unlike many of the other (likely lower-class) bodies Gaffer has found.
Themes
The Inspector tells Mortimer and Eugene that while burglary and pickpocketing take practice and skill, anyone could commit a murder, making it hard to tell what happened to John. Mortimer and Eugene leave, awaiting the inquest the next day.
The Inspector’s words in this passage hint at the darkness that can lurk inside people, even under a respectable exterior. This hints at the lengths that characters will go to later in the novel in an attempt to get their way.
Themes
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Charley gets back home and speaks with his sister Lizzie, who went away while Mortimer and Eugene were visiting. She was afraid that her face would give away something she knows about the body but doesn’t want to share. Lizzie has been like both a sister and a mother to Charley, secretly helping him in his education (since Gaffer doesn’t approve of education). Lizzie herself still isn’t literate enough to read a book, but she’d like to learn one day. Meanwhile, Gaffer is out drinking.
Lizzie is one of many children in the novel who has to take on additional responsibilities typically associated with a parent. This passage establishes a central conflict for Lizzie’s character—how to respect Gaffer’s wishes while also trying to improve life for Charley and herself, which requires an education. Literacy is an important class distinction in the novel, with many of the lower-class characters being unable to read.
Themes
Literary Devices
At John Harmon’s inquest, the jury affirms that John’s body was found floating in the Thames injured and in a state of heavy decay. No one initially comes forth with new information, so the police offer a reward, as well as a pardon for anyone who witnessed the crime but didn’t actually perpetrate it. But at first, no new information comes up. The Inspector forgets about Julius Handford, who lives where he claimed to live and seemed to be a reclusive but normal person.
The heavy decay of John’s body shows the power of nature and the inevitability of death, even for the rich, like John Harmon. The way that the police forget about Julius Handford after an initial investigation suggests flaws in the justice system that could obscure the truth of what really happened. While a reward offers an incentive for people to come forward with information, it could also motivate people to lie to try to claim it.
Themes
