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Book 3, Chapter 1
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
On the same foggy day, Riah goes to meet Jenny at her home. She calls him “godmother” because he seems to be watching over her like Cinderella. Jenny misses Lizzie, and they decide to go see her. First, they stop at the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters tavern to see Miss Abbey. They talk to Miss Abbey, and they show her the letter that Lizzie got Roger to sign, where he admits that Gaffer was innocent. Miss Abbey herself admits that she might have made the wrong choice by banning Gaffer from her tavern.
Riah’s protectiveness toward both Lizzie and Jenny shows how he is not the greedy man that Fledgeby wants him to seem like. Roger’s admission of Gaffer’s innocence (which John intimidated him into writing) is important because it removes one potential barrier to a relationship between Eugene and Lizzie (now that her father isn’t accused of murder).
Themes
Literary Devices
Just then, there’s a commotion outside the tavern. Miss Abbey goes to investigate and hears from the crowd that apparently a big steamer ship crashed into a wherry (rowboat) with a man in it. The man went underwater in the river for a long time, but they managed to recover the body. Miss Abbey goes down to see the body and is shocked to realize it’s Roger.
The circumstances of Roger being pulled from the water bear a strong resemblance to Gaffer’s death. This suggests that as much Rogers tries to distinguish himself from his former partner, he is perhaps doomed to follow a similar path in life because of where and how he lives.
Themes
