Excerpt

Excerpt from The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, by Charles Dickens

Who that had seen him in his inner chamber, part library and part
laboratory,—for he was, as the world knew, far and wide, a learned man in
chemistry, and a teacher on whose lips and hands a crowd of aspiring ears
and eyes hung daily,—who that had seen him there, upon a winter night,
alone, surrounded by his drugs and instruments and books; the shadow of
his shaded lamp a monstrous beetle on the wall, motionless among a crowd
of spectral shapes raised there by the flickering of the fire upon the
quaint objects around him; some of these phantoms (the reflection of
glass vessels that held liquids), trembling at heart like things that
knew his power to uncombine them, and to give back their component parts
to fire and vapour;—who that had seen him then, his work done, and he
pondering in his chair before the rusted grate and red flame, moving his
thin mouth as if in speech, but silent as the dead, would not have said
that the man seemed haunted and the chamber too?

Who might not, by a very easy flight of fancy, have believed that
everything about him took this haunted tone, and that he lived on haunted
ground?

His dwelling was so solitary and vault-like,—an old, retired part of an
ancient endowment for students, once a brave edifice, planted in an open
place, but now the obsolete whim of forgotten architects;
smoke-age-and-weather-darkened, squeezed on every side by the overgrowing
of the great city, and choked, like an old well, with stones and bricks;
its small quadrangles, lying down in very pits formed by the streets and
buildings, which, in course of time, had been constructed above its heavy
chimney stacks; its old trees, insulted by the neighbouring smoke, which
deigned to droop so low when it was very feeble and the weather very
moody; its grass-plots, struggling with the mildewed earth to be grass,
or to win any show of compromise; its silent pavements, unaccustomed to
the tread of feet, and even to the observation of eyes, except when a
stray face looked down from the upper world, wondering what nook it was;
its sun-dial in a little bricked-up corner, where no sun had straggled
for a hundred years, but where, in compensation for the sun’s neglect,
the snow would lie for weeks when it lay nowhere else, and the black east
wind would spin like a huge humming-top, when in all other places it was
silent and still.

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Explanation

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain by Charles Dickens

This passage is the opening of The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848), the last of Charles Dickens’ five Christmas novellas (following A Christmas Carol). The story centers on Redlaw, a brooding chemist tormented by sorrowful memories, who is visited by a ghost offering him the power to forget his past—only for this "gift" to spread like a curse to those around him. The excerpt introduces Redlaw’s eerie, isolated world, establishing themes of haunting, memory, decay, and the supernatural, while showcasing Dickens’ mastery of atmospheric description, personification, and symbolic imagery.

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Context & Themes

1. The Haunted Man’s Premise

   • Redlaw is a scientist (a chemist) whose intellectual brilliance contrasts with his emotional torment. His "haunted" state foreshadows the ghost’s arrival and the novella’s exploration of memory’s dual nature: both a burden and a necessary part of human connection.
   • The story critiques the danger of suppressing pain, as Redlaw’s forgetfulness leads to moral and emotional detachment in others.

2. Victorian Anxieties

   • The setting reflects industrialization’s dehumanizing effects: the once-grand building is now "choked" by the city, mirroring Redlaw’s suffocated spirit.
   • Dickens often contrasted science and emotion (e.g., Hard Times). Here, Redlaw’s chemistry—symbolizing cold rationalism—fails to alleviate his suffering, suggesting that humanity cannot be reduced to formulas.

3. Christmas & Redemption

   • Like A Christmas Carol, the story uses the supernatural to prompt moral awakening. The ghost’s bargain is a twisted gift, exposing how erasing the past destroys empathy.

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Literary Devices & Textual Analysis

Dickens’ prose here is densely visual and symbolic, using personification, metaphor, and sensory detail to immerse the reader in Redlaw’s haunted world.

1. The Haunted Chamber: A Microcosm of the Mind

• "part library and part laboratory":

  • The duality reflects Redlaw’s conflict: intellect (books) vs. experimentation (chemistry). His knowledge cannot heal his emotional wounds.
  • The laboratory evokes alchemical transformation—hinting at the ghost’s offer to "uncombine" his memories (like breaking down chemical compounds).

• "shadow of his shaded lamp a monstrous beetle":

  • The beetle (often a symbol of decay or the uncanny) suggests Redlaw’s mind is infested by dark thoughts. Its "monstrous" size exaggerates his isolation.
  • The flickering shadows ("spectral shapes") personify his guilt or regrets, given life by the fire’s unstable light.

• "trembling at heart like things that knew his power":

  • The glass vessels (holding liquids) are personified as fearful entities. This foreshadows the ghost’s power to "uncombine" memories, reducing them to "fire and vapour"—ephemeral, destructive forces.
  • The fire (a recurring Dickensian symbol) represents both destruction and purification, hinting at the novella’s central question: Can one burn away pain without losing humanity?

• "moving his thin mouth as if in speech, but silent as the dead":

  • Redlaw’s silence contrasts with his unspoken torment. The simile ("as the dead") links him to ghosts, reinforcing the theme of lingering, unresolved pain.

2. The Haunted Dwelling: Decay & Isolation

Dickens extends the haunting from Redlaw’s mind to his physical surroundings, using the building as a metaphor for psychological and societal collapse.

• "vault-like" / "obsolete whim of forgotten architects":

  • The vault suggests a tomb, reinforcing Redlaw’s emotional death. The "forgotten architects" imply outdated ideals—perhaps the failure of Enlightenment rationality to address human suffering.

• "squeezed on every side by the overgrowing of the great city":

  • The city’s encroachment symbolizes industrialization’s suffocating effect on the individual. Redlaw’s home (and mind) is compressed by progress, much like his memories weigh on him.

• "choked, like an old well, with stones and bricks":

  • The well (a source of life) is clogged, just as Redlaw’s emotions are blocked. The imagery evokes buried truths—his memories are like the well’s hidden depths.

• "sun-dial in a little bricked-up corner, where no sun had straggled for a hundred years":

  • The sun-dial (a symbol of time) is useless, emphasizing stagnation. The absence of sun suggests no hope or warmth—only cold, unchanging sorrow.
  • The snow and black east wind that linger there are harsh, unnatural forces, reinforcing the unnaturalness of Redlaw’s state.

• "grass-plots, struggling with the mildewed earth to be grass":

  • The struggling grass personifies failed growth—like Redlaw’s inability to move forward. The mildew (a fungus thriving in decay) mirrors his festered grief.

3. The Supernatural Atmosphere

• "Who might not... have believed that everything about him took this haunted tone?":

  • The rhetorical question invites the reader to share in the uncanny perception of the scene. Dickens blurs the line between reality and superstition, a hallmark of Gothic fiction.
  • The haunted ground suggests that Redlaw’s sorrow has infected his environment, much like the ghost’s curse will later spread.

• "stray face looked down from the upper world":

  • The "upper world" implies Redlaw lives in a netherworld of sorrow, cut off from ordinary life. The "stray face" is a brief, fleeting connection—hinting at the isolation that memory can enforce.

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Significance of the Passage

1. Introduction to Redlaw’s Character

   • The excerpt establishes Redlaw as a tragic, Byronic figure: brilliant but tormented, isolated by his intellect and pain. His silence and stillness contrast with the restless shadows, suggesting internal chaos.

2. Foreshadowing the Ghost’s Bargain

   • The chemical imagery ("uncombine," "component parts") foreshadows the ghost’s offer to dissolve memories, reducing them to base elements.
   • The fire’s destructive potential hints at the danger of erasing the past—it may consume more than intended.

3. Critique of Industrialization & Science

   • The decaying building and choked nature reflect Dickens’ concern that progress buries humanity. Redlaw’s chemistry, like the city, is cold and unfeeling.
   • The sun-dial’s uselessness suggests that time and tradition are being erased—a warning about losing touch with the past.

4. Gothic & Psychological Depth

   • Dickens blends Gothic horror (shadows, ghosts, decay) with psychological realism. Redlaw’s haunting is both literal and metaphorical—his mind is the true haunted house.
   • The personification of inanimate objects (trembling phantoms, struggling grass) gives life to his inner turmoil, making his suffering visceral.

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Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters

This opening is a masterclass in atmospheric writing, using dense, symbolic prose to plunge the reader into Redlaw’s claustrophobic, sorrow-laden world. Dickens doesn’t just describe a setting—he embodies a state of mind, where memory, decay, and isolation are as tangible as the "monstrous beetle" on the wall.

The passage sets up the novella’s central tension:

• Can one escape pain without losing humanity?
• Is forgetfulness a blessing or a curse?

By the end of the story, Redlaw learns that memory—even painful—is essential to love and redemption. This excerpt, with its haunted chemistry and choked nature, is the first step in that dark journey.

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Final Thought: Dickens’ genius lies in making the abstract (grief, memory) feel concrete. Here, a shaded lamp becomes a beetle, a building breathes like a dying thing, and a man’s silence screams. The text doesn’t just tell us Redlaw is haunted—it makes us feel the haunting.