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Book 4, 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
It’s a quiet Saturday night, and dogs are wandering the streets of a neighborhood of London. Eugene Wrayburn is out walking by the river. Lizzie is late to their meeting, and he fears she may not show up, but at last she does. Lizzie tries to convince Eugene to forget about her, because she is not from a high-enough “station” for him, but he refuses. Lizzie says that if Eugene won’t let go of her, she might have to leave for his own good, similar to what Betty did. Eugene wants to make her happy, so Lizzie tells him the only thing to do is to leave the neighborhood the next morning.
While Bella was a generally good character who had to overcome occasional moments of selfishness, Lizzie suffers at times from being too selfless, rejecting Eugene’s love simply because she feels unworthy of it and doesn’t want to cause him problems. The problem with Lizzie’s way of thinking is that she doesn’t trust Eugene’s own judgement and willingness to take on risk in his life. Although Eugene was immature at the beginning of the novel, he has learned to value Lizzie for who she is.
Themes
Literary Devices
Eugene leaves, convinced that deep down, Lizzie loves him. He considers what it would take for him to marry her and how Mortimer would probably advise against it. As he’s walking, he comes across a man who is carrying something over his shoulder and is so distracted that he nearly bumps Eugene.
Eugene knows that marrying Lizzie would potentially ostracize him from upper-class London society. But he also knows, from attending parties like the ones the Veneerings host, that perhaps upper-class society doesn’t have that much to offer him and he wouldn’t miss it.
Themes
As Eugene walks, all of a sudden, he feels a sensation like he’s been struck by lightning. A man attacks him, and Eugene manages to grab ahold of his red neckerchief. In struggling with his attacker, he falls in the river.
The red handkerchief all but confirms that Eugene’s attacker was either Roger or, more likely, Headstone posing as Roger. The fact that Eugene feels like he’s been struck by lightning emphasizes the suddenness of the even for him, although perhaps his focus on Lizzie has made him oblivious to the warning signs that Headstone has been following him.
Themes
Lizzie hears fighting and is alarmed when she hears someone go in the river. She rushes over toward the noise and manages to find a boat moored nearby. Taking the boat out onto the river, she finds a human form in the water. The person seems to be badly injured or dead. Lizzie gets the body into the boat and, recognizing him as Eugene, kisses him and forgives him.
It's one thing for Lizzie to leave Eugene in theory, but when she comes face to face with the possibility that she might lose him to death, she realizes her true feelings for him. Lizzie has been a passive character for much of the middle of the novel, hiding away from her problems. But this passage returns her to her roots, pulling things out of the river just as she did when she was assisting Gaffer.
Themes
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Using all her strength, Lizzie takes the gravely injured Eugene to a nearby inn where there are two surgeons. The one surgeon is surprised that she managed to carry so much weight. While waiting for a sign from the two surgeons about whether Eugene is alive or dead, Lizzie passes out. The one surgeon tells the other to treat her gently—because she may be in love with a dead man.
When the situation requires it, Lizzie finds out that she’s stronger than she realizes. Although as a young woman, Lizzie is used to people in her society underestimating her, her time spent working on the river from a young age with Gaffer has made her tough and competent. Still, the news that Eugene might not make it (another cliffhanger) takes her to the limit, and she passes out.
Themes
