Appearance
Excerpt
Excerpt from Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens
In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no
need to be precise, a boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with
two figures in it, floated on the Thames, between Southwark bridge which
is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn evening
was closing in.
The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled
hair and a sun-browned face, and a dark girl of nineteen or twenty,
sufficiently like him to be recognizable as his daughter. The girl
rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man, with the
rudder-lines slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waistband,
kept an eager look out. He had no net, hook, or line, and he could
not be a fisherman; his boat had no cushion for a sitter, no paint, no
inscription, no appliance beyond a rusty boathook and a coil of rope,
and he could not be a waterman; his boat was too crazy and too small
to take in cargo for delivery, and he could not be a lighterman or
river-carrier; there was no clue to what he looked for, but he looked
for something, with a most intent and searching gaze. The tide, which
had turned an hour before, was running down, and his eyes watched
every little race and eddy in its broad sweep, as the boat made slight
head-way against it, or drove stern foremost before it, according as he
directed his daughter by a movement of his head. She watched his face
as earnestly as he watched the river. But, in the intensity of her look
there was a touch of dread or horror.
Allied to the bottom of the river rather than the surface, by reason of
the slime and ooze with which it was covered, and its sodden state, this
boat and the two figures in it obviously were doing something that they
often did, and were seeking what they often sought. Half savage as the
man showed, with no covering on his matted head, with his brown arms
bare to between the elbow and the shoulder, with the loose knot of a
looser kerchief lying low on his bare breast in a wilderness of beard
and whisker, with such dress as he wore seeming to be made out of the
mud that begrimed his boat, still there was a business-like usage in his
steady gaze. So with every lithe action of the girl, with every turn of
her wrist, perhaps most of all with her look of dread or horror; they
were things of usage.
Explanation
Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
This passage opens Our Mutual Friend (1864–65), Dickens’s last completed novel, and introduces two of its central characters: Gaffar Hexam, a river scavenger, and his daughter Lizzie Hexam. The novel is a complex social critique, exploring themes of money, corruption, class inequality, and the dehumanizing effects of industrialization, all set against the backdrop of the River Thames, which functions as both a literal and symbolic force in the story.
Below is a close analysis of the excerpt, focusing on its imagery, tone, character introduction, and thematic significance, while also situating it within Dickens’s broader social commentary.
1. Setting and Atmosphere: The Thames as a Character
The passage immediately establishes the Thames as a dominant, almost sentient presence—a recurring motif in the novel. Dickens describes the river in autumn evening, a time of decay and transition, reinforcing the novel’s themes of moral and social corruption.
- "A boat of dirty and disreputable appearance" → The boat is an extension of its occupants, reflecting their marginalized, impoverished existence. Its filth and decay mirror the moral filth of London’s underworld.
- "Between Southwark Bridge (which is of iron) and London Bridge (which is of stone)" → The contrast between modern industry (iron) and traditional craftsmanship (stone) suggests a city in flux, where progress has left many behind.
- "The tide… was running down" → The downward flow symbolizes decline, waste, and the inevitable pull of death—a key theme in a novel obsessed with drowning, resurrection, and the detritus of society.
The Thames is not just a setting but a graveyard, a sewer, and a source of livelihood—a place where the discarded (both people and objects) are dragged under or salvaged.
2. Character Introduction: Gaffar and Lizzie Hexam
Dickens introduces the Hexams through physical description, behavior, and their relationship with the river, immediately establishing their harsh, precarious existence.
Gaffar Hexam: The Savage Scavenger
- "A strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sun-browned face" → His wild, untamed appearance suggests a life outside conventional society. He is hardened by labor and exposure, yet his strength implies resilience.
- "No covering on his matted head, brown arms bare… a wilderness of beard and whisker" → His near-nakedness evokes a primitive, almost animalistic existence, reinforcing his connection to the river’s brutality.
- "He had no net, hook, or line, and he could not be a fisherman… no appliance beyond a rusty boathook and a coil of rope" → His tools (or lack thereof) suggest he is not a legitimate worker but a scavenger, likely searching for corpses or washed-up valuables (a practice known as "mudlarking" or "dragging" in Victorian London).
- "He looked for something, with a most intent and searching gaze" → His obsession hints at the novel’s central mystery: the discovery of a drowned man (John Harmon), which sets the plot in motion.
Gaffar is both predator and prey—a man who survives by exploiting the river’s horrors but is also trapped by them. His business-like demeanor ("a business-like usage in his steady gaze") suggests that death is his trade, a grim reflection of how capitalism commodifies even human suffering.
Lizzie Hexam: The Trapped Daughter
- "A dark girl of nineteen or twenty, sufficiently like him to be recognizable as his daughter" → Her resemblance to Gaffar ties her to his world, but her youth and gender make her vulnerability more pronounced.
- "The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily" → Unlike her father, she is skilled and efficient, suggesting adaptation to hardship. Yet, her labor is unseen and unpaid, reflecting the exploitation of working-class women.
- "She watched his face as earnestly as he watched the river. But, in the intensity of her look, there was a touch of dread or horror." → Her fear hints at the psychological toll of their work. She is complicit yet repulsed, trapped in a cycle of violence and survival.
Lizzie’s duality—both strong and terrified—foreshadows her later role as a moral compass in the novel, caught between corruption and redemption.
3. Literary Devices and Stylistic Choices
Dickens employs several key techniques to immerse the reader in this grim, atmospheric world:
A. Sensory and Tactile Imagery
- "Slime and ooze… sodden state" → The physical decay of the boat mirrors the moral decay of London.
- "His dress… seeming to be made out of the mud that begrimed his boat" → The blurring of man and environment suggests that Gaffar is as much a part of the river’s filth as the corpses he retrieves.
B. Repetition and Parallelism
- "He could not be a fisherman… he could not be a waterman… he could not be a lighterman" → The anaphora (repetition of "he could not") emphasizes his outsider status, reinforcing that he operates outside respectable society.
- "She watched his face as earnestly as he watched the river" → The parallel structure links father and daughter in their shared obsession, but the added "dread or horror" in Lizzie’s gaze introduces a psychological depth absent in Gaffar.
C. Symbolism and Foreshadowing
- "Allied to the bottom of the river rather than the surface" → The Hexams are literally and metaphorically submerged in London’s underworld. The river’s depths symbolize hidden truths, secrets, and the buried sins of society.
- "Things of usage" → The phrase suggests routine, desensitization, and the normalization of horror—a critique of how poverty and exploitation become invisible in industrial society.
D. Tone: Gritty Realism with Gothic Undertones
The passage blends:
- Social realism (the harsh lives of the poor)
- Gothic horror (the river as a graveyard, the dread in Lizzie’s eyes)
- Dark humor (the absurdity of Gaffar’s "business-like" corpse-hunting)
This unsettling tone prepares the reader for a novel where money is tainted, identities are fluid, and morality is murky.
4. Themes Introduced in the Excerpt
Several of the novel’s major themes are embedded in this opening scene:
A. The River as a Mirror of Society
The Thames is:
- A dumping ground for the dead (literal and metaphorical)
- A source of illicit profit (Gaffar’s scavenging)
- A dividing line between classes (the rich live above it; the poor drown in it)
Dickens critiques how industrial London treats its poor as disposable, washing them away like refuse.
B. The Commodification of Death
Gaffar’s search for something (likely a corpse) introduces the novel’s obsession with money’s corrupting power. Later, the drowned man (John Harmon) becomes the center of an inheritance scheme, showing how even death is monetized.
C. The Trap of Poverty and Inherited Suffering
Lizzie’s fearful compliance suggests that poverty is a cycle. She is trapped by her father’s way of life, just as many Victorians were trapped by class and circumstance.
D. The Illusion of Progress
The contrast between Southwark Bridge (iron, modern) and London Bridge (stone, old) hints at Dickens’s ambivalence about industrialization. While London grows, its underbelly festers—progress has not lifted the poor but pushed them further into the margins.
5. Significance in the Novel’s Broader Context
This opening sets up:
- The central mystery (the drowned man’s identity)
- The moral dilemma (how far will people go for money?)
- The social divide (between the Hexams and the wealthy classes they serve)
Later, Lizzie becomes a key figure in the novel’s redemptive arcs, while Gaffar’s violent end reinforces the cost of living outside society’s rules.
Dickens uses the Hexams to ask:
- What does it mean to be human in a system that treats people as waste?
- Can one escape the river’s pull, or is everyone ultimately dragged under?
6. Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters
This excerpt is a masterclass in immersive, thematically rich prose. Dickens does not just describe a scene—he submerges the reader in it, making them feel the cold, the dread, and the weight of the river’s secrets.
By focusing on two marginalized figures in their daily, grim routine, Dickens:
- Humanizes the poor (showing their resilience and suffering)
- Critiques industrial capitalism (exposing its dehumanizing effects)
- Sets up a moral and narrative mystery (what are they searching for? What will it cost them?)
The Thames, in all its filth and power, becomes a character in its own right—a symbol of both destruction and revelation, carrying the novel’s darkest secrets to the surface.
Final Thought:
Dickens’s opening is not just a scene-setter but a microcosm of the entire novel—a story about what floats to the top and what sinks forever, about who profits from misery and who drowns in it. The Hexams, in their dirty, determined boat, are both victims and survivors, and their fate will reflect the moral health of the society that casts them off.