Charles Dickens

(1812 - 1870)

Martin Chuzzlewit (1843—1844) is one of Dickens' satirical representations of the bourgeois society of his days. The scene is laid in England and in America. In describing scenes of American life, Dickens was influenced by impressions obtained during his trip to the United States in 1842. His treatment of American reality is tinged by his highly critical attitude to that country.

Martin Chuzzlewit, a young Englishman, makes a journey to America. The chapter below deals with Martin's arrival in New York. On his way he got acquainted with an American who had set his heart on carrying him to the house of his relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Norris. There he met General Fladdock, a New Yorker who had just come back from his trip to Europe.

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CHAPTER XVII

... To be sure, it would have been impossible for the family ¹⁾ to testify purer delight and joy than at this unlooked-for appearance of General Fladdock! The general was as warmly received as if New York had been in a state of siege and no other general was to be got for love or money. He shook hands with the Norrises three times all round, and then reviewed them from a little distance as a brave commander might, with his simple cloak drawn forward over the right shoulder and thrown back upon the left side to reveal his manly breast.

" And do I then, " cried the general, " once again behold the choicest spirits of my country! "

" Yes, " said Mr. Norris the father. " Here we are, general."

Then all the Norrises pressed round the general, inquiring how and where he had been since the date of his letter, and how he had enjoyed himself in foreign parts, and particularly and above all, to what extent he had become acquainted with the great dukes, lords viscounts, marquesses, duchesses, knights, and baronets, in whom the people of those benighted countries had delight.

" Well, then, don't ask me, " said the general, holding up his hand. " I was among 'em all the time, and have got public journals in my trunk with my name printed: " he lowered his voice and was very impressive here: " among the fashionable news. But, oh the conventionalities of that a-mazing Eu — rope! "

" Ah! " cried Mr. Norris the father, giving his head a melancholy shake, and looking towards Martin as though he would say, " I can't deny it, sir. I would if I could."

" The limited diffusion of a moral sense in that country! " exclaimed the general. " The absence of a moral dignity in man! "

" Ah! " sighed all the Norrises, quite overwhelmed with despondency.

" I couldn't have realised it, " pursued the general, " without being located on the spot. Norris, your imagination is the imagination of a strong man, but you couldn't have realised it, without being located on the spot! "

" Never, " said Mr. Norris.

" The ex-clusiveness, the pride, the form, the ceremony, " exclaimed the general, emphasising the article more vigorously at every repetition. " The artificial barriers set up between man and man; the division of the human race into court cards and plain cards, of every denomination — into clubs, diamonds, spades, anything but hearts! "

" Ah! " cried the whole family. " Too true, general! "

" But stay! " cried Mr. Norris the father, taking him by the arm. " Surely you crossed in the Screw ²⁾, general!? "

" Well! so I did, " was the reply.

" Possible! " cried the young ladies. " Only think! "

The general seemed at a loss to understand why his having come home in the Screw should occasion such a sensation, nor did he seem at all clearer on the subject when Mr. Norris, introducing him to Martin, said:

" A fellow-passenger of yours, I think? "

" Of mine? " exclaimed the general: " No! "

He had never seen Martin, but Martin had seen him, and recognised him, now that they stood face to face, as the gentleman who had stuck his hands in his pockets towards the end of the voyage, and walked the deck with his nostrils dilated.

Everybody looked at Martin. There was no help for it. The truth must out.

" I came over in the same ship as the general, " said Martin, " but not in the same cabin. It being necessary for me to observe strict economy, I took my passage in the steerage."

If the general had been carried up bodily to a loaded cannon, and required to let it off that moment, he could not have been in a state of greater consternation than when he heard these words. He, Flad-dock, Fladdock in full militia uniform ³⁾, Fladdock the General, Fladdock the caressed of foreign noblemen, expected to know a fellow who had come over in the steerage of a line-of packet ship, at the cost of four pound ten! And meeting that fellow in the very sanctuary of New York fashion, and nestling in the bosom of the New York aristocracy! He almost laid his hand upon his sword.

¨ Explanatory Notes

¹⁾ the family — the Norrises, members of the New York aristocracy.

²⁾ the Screw — the name of the ship.

³⁾ militia uniform — the uniform of an officer belonging to the militia — a regular military force which includes all men between 18 and 45 and is used for periodical instruction and drill but not for active service except in emergencies.