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Book 2, Chapter 14
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
Headstone promised to conduct another “interview” with Lizzie, so he comes back one day to perform it. On the way over, Headstone mentions to Charley that Jenny seems to be trying to turn Lizzie against both Headstone and Charley. Charley is less concerned, believing they can convince Lizzie of what’s best. They find her and Headstone takes her to a quiet street to talk while Charley waits.
Contrasting with all the altruistic motives of the previous chapter is Headstone, who becomes increasingly paranoid that everyone is out to try to keep Lizzie away from him. His arrogant belief that he knows exactly what’s best for Lizzie prevents him from ever having a meaningful relationship with her.
Themes
Headstone gives Lizzie a speech about how he is a respectable, esteemed man and how many men like him reach a point in their lives when they start to look for a wife. When Lizzie realizes that he seems to be talking about her, she tells him it would be better for both of them if he stops talking. But he goes on anyway, saying he loves Lizzie. When he asks for a yes or no answer to his marriage proposal, Lizzie gives a firm no.
Although Headstone is indeed from a higher social status than Lizzie, he’s not as respectable as Eugene, and so in addition to being a lecture to Lizzie, his speech is also a pep talk to himself. Lizzie’s clear rejection of Headstone punctures his inflated view of himself, which is part of why it affects him so much.
Themes
Literary Devices
Headstone grabs Lizzie by the arm, but she gets away. Headstone says Lizzie has been under the influence of Eugene, but Lizzie protests that Eugene has been kind to her after Gaffer’s death. Headstone says Eugene is probably gloating somewhere knowing that that Lizzie would reject Headstone.
Headstone’s rough physical contact with Lizzie is a sign that his controlling instincts might have a darker side—that he is not just a buffoon but perhaps a dangerous man. His comments that Eugene must be brainwashing Lizzie come across as a delusion that helps him cope with his hurt ego (although Eugene would probably gloat about Headstone’s rejection).
Themes
Charley is surprised to see Headstone walking off angrily. He asks Lizzie what happened. Lizzie tells the truth: that she told Headstone she’d never marry him. Charley tries to convince her to change her mind, but Lizzie insists she never will. Charley gets angry and says he’s done with her forever.
Lizzie put Charley’s good above her own when she told him to go out and get an education. He repays her by siding with Headstone over her, cutting off contact with her over her rejection of Headstone. Charley’s education has, this shows, only gotten him an education: it hasn’t made him a better person.
Themes
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Charley leaves, and a stranger happens to run into Lizzie, asking her why she looks distressed. The stranger is Riah. He offers to accompany her wherever she’s going, and while the two of them walk, they run into Eugene. Eugene also asks Lizzie why she is upset. He tries to send Riah away, but Riah says he’ll only go when Lizzie tells him to. Together, they take Lizzie back to her home and leave.
Although Fledgeby says all sorts of nasty things about Riah, it becomes clear as soon as Riah is on his own that he is in fact a generous man who looks out for vulnerable people like Lizzie. Riah acts protective of Lizzie, fulfilling the fatherly role that Gaffer himself often struggled to embody.
Themes
