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Book 2, Chapter 6
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
Boffin begins to have Wegg read to him in the morning at the new Boffin mansion instead of in the evening at Boffin’s Bower. Boffin’s new home is the one near where Wegg used to set up his stall—the same house Wegg always referred to “Our House”—and Wegg is surprised at first to see that the inside of the house doesn’t match with what he imagined.
Wegg is so influential that he even gets Boffin to purchase the house that Wegg has always longed to be inside. The fact that the inside of the house doesn’t match with Wegg’s ideas shows how wealth and greed are bound to ultimately be unsatisfying.
Themes
One day, while he’s watching over the Bower, Wegg invites over his old friend Mr. Venus. Wegg tells Venus that although Boffin inherited a fortune recently, Wegg has learned to content himself with taking just the small amount that Boffin apportions for him. Venus mentions that he knew old Mr. Harmon and found him a very secretive and greedy man. Venus wonders if perhaps old Mr. Harmon hid some valuable things amid the dust Mounds by the Bower.
Similar to Fledgeby, old Mr. Harmon seems to have been another miser, who hoarded money rather than putting it to use. This passage initially frames Venus and Wegg as the good guys, trying to find money that the greedy old Mr. Harmon hid away from the world. As their story goes on, however, they will have to face the temptation of being consumed by the same greed as many of the other characters in the story.
Themes
Literary Devices
Wegg decides that he and Mr. Venus should search the dust Mounds together and split what they find (particularly since Wegg needs help due to his wooden leg). They wonder if perhaps old Mr. Harmon left any valuable papers or documents behind and set about searching the premises.
The irony of this passage is that Wegg and Venus start looking for something valuable (such as any documents that old Mr. Harmon left behind) in a place known for being full of junk: the dust mounds. The novel constantly questions traditional ideas about what is valuable and what is junk, showing how these traditional ideas can fall short of capturing the truth.
Themes
