Excerpt

Excerpt from The Chimes, by Charles Dickens

Toby was not a casuist—that he knew of, at least—and I don’t mean to say
that when he began to take to the Bells, and to knit up his first rough
acquaintance with them into something of a closer and more delicate woof,
he passed through these considerations one by one, or held any formal
review or great field-day in his thoughts. But what I mean to say, and
do say is, that as the functions of Toby’s body, his digestive organs for
example, did of their own cunning, and by a great many operations of
which he was altogether ignorant, and the knowledge of which would have
astonished him very much, arrive at a certain end; so his mental
faculties, without his privity or concurrence, set all these wheels and
springs in motion, with a thousand others, when they worked to bring
about his liking for the Bells.

And though I had said his love, I would not have recalled the word,
though it would scarcely have expressed his complicated feeling. For,
being but a simple man, he invested them with a strange and solemn
character. They were so mysterious, often heard and never seen; so high
up, so far off, so full of such a deep strong melody, that he regarded
them with a species of awe; and sometimes when he looked up at the dark
arched windows in the tower, he half expected to be beckoned to by
something which was not a Bell, and yet was what he had heard so often
sounding in the Chimes. For all this, Toby scouted with indignation a
certain flying rumour that the Chimes were haunted, as implying the
possibility of their being connected with any Evil thing. In short, they
were very often in his ears, and very often in his thoughts, but always
in his good opinion; and he very often got such a crick in his neck by
staring with his mouth wide open, at the steeple where they hung, that he
was fain to take an extra trot or two, afterwards, to cure it.

The very thing he was in the act of doing one cold day, when the last
drowsy sound of Twelve o’clock, just struck, was humming like a melodious
monster of a Bee, and not by any means a busy bee, all through the
steeple!

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Explanation

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Chimes by Charles Dickens

Context of The Chimes

The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells That Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In (1844) is the second of Charles Dickens’s five Christmas books, following A Christmas Carol (1843). Unlike its predecessor, which focuses on redemption through supernatural intervention, The Chimes is a darker, more socially critical tale. It follows Toby "Trotty" Veck, a poor, working-class messenger who, after losing faith in humanity, is visited by spirits (the "Chimes" of a church bell tower) that show him visions of the future to restore his hope.

The excerpt provided introduces Toby’s deep, almost mystical connection with the church bells—a relationship that borders on the supernatural but remains rooted in his simple, earnest nature.

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Themes in the Excerpt

1. The Mystical and the Mundane

   • The bells are both ordinary (a part of daily life) and extraordinary (invested with "a strange and solemn character").
   • Toby’s awe of them suggests a spiritual or supernatural dimension, yet he rejects the idea that they are "haunted" by anything evil—his reverence is pure.

2. The Sublime in the Commonplace

   • Dickens elevates the bells to something grand and mysterious, despite their familiarity. They are "often heard and never seen," making them both present and elusive, like a divine force.
   • Toby’s physical reactions (straining his neck to stare at the steeple) emphasize how something mundane (church bells) can inspire wonder.

3. Instinct vs. Rational Thought

   • The passage compares Toby’s emotional attachment to the bells to his body’s automatic functions (e.g., digestion). His love for them is not a conscious choice but an instinctive, almost physiological response.
   • This reflects Dickens’s interest in how emotions and beliefs form beyond logic—especially in simple, uneducated people like Toby.

4. Class and Perception

   • Toby is a "simple man," and his perception of the bells is shaped by his limited worldview. His awe contrasts with the skepticism of those who might dismiss the bells as mere objects.
   • The "flying rumour" that the bells are haunted suggests how superstition spreads among the lower classes, though Toby’s personal connection to them is more innocent.

5. Time and Mortality

   • The bells mark the passage of time (e.g., the "drowsy sound of Twelve o’clock"), reinforcing their role as both a comfort and a reminder of life’s fleeting nature.
   • The final image of the bell’s hum as a "melodious monster of a Bee" (but "not... a busy bee") suggests a slow, almost lazy passage of time—fitting for a story set on New Year’s Eve, a moment of reflection.

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Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

1. Extended Metaphor (Bells as a Living Presence)

   • The bells are personified as almost sentient beings—Toby "invested them with a strange and solemn character" and half-expects to be "beckoned to by something which was not a Bell."
   • The comparison to a "melodious monster of a Bee" gives the bells a strange, organic quality, blending beauty with something slightly unsettling.

2. Contrast & Juxtaposition

   • Mystery vs. Familiarity: The bells are both "often heard" and "never seen," making them at once intimate and distant.
   • Awe vs. Indignation: Toby reveres the bells but scoffs at the idea they are "haunted," showing his personal, almost protective relationship with them.
   • Physical vs. Spiritual: His bodily reactions (neck crick, open-mouthed staring) ground the spiritual experience in the comedic and human.

3. Digressive, Conversational Narrative Style

   • The narrator interrupts himself ("that he knew of, at least") and clarifies his meaning ("what I mean to say, and do say is..."), mimicking oral storytelling.
   • This creates intimacy, as if the narrator is confiding in the reader, reinforcing the fairy-tale-like quality of the story.

4. Sensory Imagery

   • Auditory: The "deep strong melody" of the bells, the "drowsy sound" of twelve o’clock.
   • Visual: The "dark arched windows in the tower," Toby’s wide-open mouth and cricked neck.
   • Tactile: The "closer and more delicate woof" (weave) of his connection to the bells suggests something intricate and textured.

5. Symbolism

   • The Bells: Represent fate, time, and divine judgment. Their sound is both comforting and ominous, much like the spirits in A Christmas Carol.
   • The Steeple: A vertical, heaven-reaching structure, symbolizing Toby’s aspiration toward something greater than his humble life.

6. Humor & Pathos

   • The image of Toby trotting to cure his cricked neck is comedic, but it also underscores his physical labor (he is a messenger, always moving).
   • His earnestness in rejecting the "haunted" rumor is both touching and slightly absurd, highlighting his innocence.

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Significance of the Passage

1. Toby’s Character Introduction

   • This passage establishes Toby as a man of deep feeling but little education. His relationship with the bells is instinctive, not intellectual, making him a sympathetic everyman.
   • His physicality (straining to see the bells, trotting to ease his neck) humanizes him, contrasting with the ethereal nature of the bells.

2. Foreshadowing the Supernatural

   • The bells’ mysterious, almost sentient quality hints at their later role as spiritual guides in Toby’s visions.
   • The rejection of the "haunted" rumor suggests that whatever supernatural element exists in the bells is benevolent, not malevolent.

3. Dickens’s Social Commentary

   • Toby’s simple faith in the bells contrasts with the cynicism of the world around him (represented by the "flying rumour").
   • The passage subtly critiques how the poor are often dismissed as superstitious, while also showing the beauty in their unquestioning belief.

4. The Role of Time and Memory

   • The bells mark time, and Toby’s attachment to them suggests a longing for stability in a changing world.
   • The "old year out, new year in" motif of The Chimes is introduced here—the bells are a bridge between past and future.

5. Dickens’s Narrative Technique

   • The playful, digressive style reflects Dickens’s oral storytelling roots (he often read his works aloud).
   • The blending of humor, mystery, and pathos is classic Dickens, making the supernatural feel grounded in human experience.

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Line-by-Line Breakdown of Key Moments

1. "Toby was not a casuist..."

   • A casuist is someone who engages in complex moral reasoning. Toby doesn’t overanalyze his feelings; his connection to the bells is intuitive.

2. "his mental faculties... set all these wheels and springs in motion"

   • His mind works like a machine (a common Industrial Revolution metaphor), but the process is unconscious, like digestion.

3. "he invested them with a strange and solemn character"

   • Toby projects his own reverence onto the bells, making them more than mere objects.

4. "something which was not a Bell, and yet was what he had heard so often sounding"

   • This ambiguity suggests the bells are a conduit for something greater—perhaps the spirits that later appear to him.

5. "a melodious monster of a Bee, and not by any means a busy bee"

   • The "monster" implies something vast and powerful, while "not... busy" reinforces the slow, dreamlike quality of the moment—time seems suspended.

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Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters

This excerpt is a microcosm of The Chimes as a whole: it blends the mundane with the mystical, the humorous with the profound, and the personal with the universal. Toby’s relationship with the bells mirrors the human desire to find meaning in the unseen—whether through faith, superstition, or simple wonder. Dickens uses this passage to:

• Establish Toby as a man of heart rather than intellect.
• Introduce the bells as a symbolic force that will shape the story.
• Critique societal dismissals of the poor while celebrating their capacity for awe.
• Set the tone for a tale where the supernatural feels as real as the streets of London.

The bells, like the ghosts in A Christmas Carol, are both a plot device and a metaphor—for time, for conscience, and for the unseen forces that guide human lives. Toby’s cricked neck, his open-mouthed staring, and his indignant rejection of gossip all make him deeply human, ensuring that when the bells later "speak" to him, we believe in their power—not because they are magical, but because Toby’s faith in them is real.