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Book 3, Chapter 5
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
Wegg no longer gets to go into the Boffin mansion but has to wait at the Bower for whenever Boffin wants him. They’ve moved on to new books about ancient history. Boffin isn’t sure what to believe from the books that Wegg reads him—he feels it’s sensible to believe half but isn’t sure which half to believe.
The first book that Wegg read Boffin, like The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, did indeed mix fact with legend. Boffin’s realization that not everything in print is true suggests that, with Wegg’s help, he is becoming more discerning about books, even if he still can’t read for himself.
Themes
One evening, Mr. Venus comes to visit Wegg at the Bower. The two of them have still been searching the place for anything valuable that old Mr. Harmon might have left behind in his Mounds of dust. While they’re talking, Boffin surprises Wegg with a visit late in the day. Wegg tells Boffin that he has a visitor, but Boffin says Mr. Venus can help: Boffin has some books he wants to move.
While previously, Boffin used to be very generous with Wegg, even paying him on days when he didn’t work, now Boffin intrudes upon Wegg’s personal time and forces him to perform tasks.
Themes
After Wegg and Mr. Venus help arrange the books, Boffin asks Wegg to read him a story about a miser. When he’s finished, Boffin asks for more stories about misers. Boffin asks Venus if he’s also enjoying the stories and says he’s welcome to come back for future readings. Boffin is intrigued by the idea that in all of the stories about misers, money has been hidden away somewhere to be found later.
In this passage, the fact that Boffin keeps asking Wegg for more stories about misers is another humorous example of the new forms that Boffin’s greed takes. But while Bella sees Boffin’s transformation into a miser and is horrified by it, nothing about these stories seems to stop Wegg or Venus from continuing to comb through the mounds in search of a deceased miser’s lost treasure.
Themes
Literary Devices
When Boffin finally leaves, Wegg tells Mr. Venus that they should secretly follow him. Wegg believes that Boffin has learned about a treasure and is about to collect it. They see Boffin working with a shovel. They watch Boffin dig up a bottle. Greedily, Wegg tells Venus that they have to get that bottle from Boffin at any cost—even by force. Venus doesn’t think this is a good idea, so he knocks Wegg down, knowing it will take a while for him to get up with his wooden leg.
This passage seems at first to humorously show the extent of Wegg’s greed. Wegg is so protective of his mounds (which until very recently belonged to Boffin) that he resents Boffin even taking a single glass bottle from them. Wegg is even willing to use force to get the bottle back, suggesting the lengths he’ll go to. This shows Venus a dark side of Wegg and causes him to second-guess their plan. As it turns out, the glass bottle is indeed more than just a bottle and will play a role in the story later.
Themes
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