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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Pickwick Papers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Male Friendship
Predatory Social Institutions
Social Class and Inequality
Marriage and Courtship
Generosity and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Before returning to London, the Pickwickians set out on a hunting trip with Wardle, Trundle, and Sam. It’s a fine summery day, even though it is now September. A gamekeeper and his assistant join the group. Winkle, nervous and inexperienced, fumbles with his gun, and his awkwardness nearly causes accidents throughout the outing. He is chastised several times for his unsafe handling of the weapon but insists that he knows what he is doing.
This scene plays on the tension between self-image and reality, with Winkle’s exaggerated confidence clashing with his obvious incompetence. His lack of hunting skills reflects a deeper discomfort with traditional performances of masculinity. Of course, all of this is made worse because Winkle is supposedly the sportsman of the group.
Themes
As the group moves through the fields, Pickwick, unable to join the hunt due to his injured leg, rides in a wheelbarrow pushed by Sam. Meanwhile, both Winkle and Tupman struggle with their shooting. Tupman accidentally wounds a partridge and, to his surprise, receives praise as a skilled shooter. Winkle, on the other hand, fails to hit anything, though he does endanger the dogs with his reckless firing. The group soon halts for lunch, enjoying a picnic of meat pies and punch in a scenic field. Pickwick indulges in the punch and grows increasingly inebriated until he falls asleep in the wheelbarrow. The others leave him behind while they continue hunting, hoping he will sleep off the effects of the punch.
The juxtaposition of Tupman’s accidental success with Winkle’s failures only exacerbates the wounds to Winkle’s reputation. However, ultimately, the group’s leisurely picnic takes precedence over the hunt itself, as the bonding aspect of the trip is more important than proving who is the most skilled. Although Pickwick usually acts as the leader of the group, here he is the least responsible and the least capable, leaving him in a rather vulnerable position as the others leave to resume hunting.
Themes
Captain Boldwig, the landowner of the property the group has been hunting on, soon arrives with his gardeners. Mistaking Pickwick for a drunken vagabond, he orders him to be wheeled to the village pound. When Pickwick wakes, he finds himself imprisoned, much to the delight of the local villagers, who begin to mock him. Fortunately, Wardle and Sam arrive in time to rescue him. After a brief scuffle with the town parish officer, they whisk Pickwick away. Pickwick initially threatens legal action against Boldwig for false imprisonment, but Wardle reminds him, with a laugh, that they had been trespassing, and they consumed a significant amount of punch. The group bursts into laughter. Their spirits restored, they stop at a tavern for drinks before continuing their journey home.
Pickwick’s mistaken identity as a vagrant exposes the fragility of social standing, suggesting that reputation offers little protection when appearances are misleading. However, Pickwick regains his power and authority when he appears in front of the parish clerk, where he can once again assert his social standing to prove his innocence. Though Pickwick was not a drunken vagabond, he was nonetheless drunk and trespassing, which his status ultimately allows him to get away with. Though the novel does not condemn Pickwick’s behavior, it does raise questions about whether someone like Sam would have gotten the same treatment.
Themes
