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Book 4, 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
Bradley Headstone has a lot on his mind, due to both guilt and the fear of getting caught. He hoped to separate Eugene and Lizzie but ended up accidentally giving them a reason to marry. Furthermore, he’s afraid that Roger Riderhood knows what he did and will use this knowledge against him.
Headstone, who framed Roger Riderhood, thought that he could get away with killing Eugene (or attempting to), but now he realizes that he will never be able to escape the guilt on his conscience and his doubt that he may have left himself open to discovery.
Themes
One day, Roger surprises Headstone by visiting him at school. Roger pretends to make friendly conversation before casually revealing that he found the clothes that Headstone attempted to dispose of in the river. With that, Roger leaves. The next morning, Headstone gets up early and heads to the lock where Roger works.
When Headstone arrives at the lock, Roger is smoking a pipe and invites Headstone to sit by him. He demands that Headstone give him his watch, as well as a sum of money, just to start. He says he knows that Headstone intentionally cut his own hand with a knife earlier when eating Roger’s pie in order to get blood on Roger’s clothes. Headstone protests that no matter what he did, he doesn’t make much money and so doesn’t have much to give Roger.
Roger reveals himself to be more perceptive than he sometimes acts, finally letting on that he knew Headstone cut his own hand on purpose. Blood on the hands is a common sign of guilt, and Headstone’s attempt to literally get blood from his hands onto Roger is also a sign of what he is trying to do metaphorically.
Themes
Headstone spends the night at the lock. In the morning, Roger insists to Headstone that he should just pay the money instead of fighting it. As they’re walking by the lock, all of a sudden, Headstone grabs Roger and tries to throw him into the river. Roger brags that no one can drown him, but Headstone says he’ll do it personally. They go in the water and get caught in the lock, where their bodies are discovered later.
Headstone’s name takes on yet another meaning as he sinks to the bottom of the river like a stone. This passage is a metaphor for how the sins of both Headstone and Roger have weighed them down—unlike other characters who emerge reborn from the river, the two of them meet their ultimate fate. Roger in particular failed to learn from his mistakes, believing he was impervious to drowning rather than learning to be more careful.
Themes
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