"Good old W-----! You are the one fixed point in a changing age. There's an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, W-----, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less, and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared."
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We have at long last reached the last chapter of Elizabeth Gaskell's great novel North and South. Henry is finally disabused of the notion that Margaret can or will ever care about him in a romantic way. We aren't party to the financial discussion they have in Edith's drawing room, but he obviously clues in- no doubt due to the lengths she's willing to go to in order to help John- that she's in love with her Milton tenant. Henry handles his disappointment coolly: no display of raw emotion (well, anger) such as John had when Margaret turned down his proposal. He also calmly dashes Edith's hopes for he and Margaret getting together when she pounces on him as he leaves the drawing room. Edith is dismayed, and the reason for her disappointment is typically Edith: she wails that now she's afraid that Margaret will go to Spain, and not be around to take care of the children. Oh. As I have remarked before about Edith, though she's basically a nice person, she's selfish and self-absorbed; no thought for how Henry must be feeling, or what Margaret's state of mind is at present. Her first concern is how this turn of events will affect her life. As he leaves, Henry tells Edith that he'll be returning the following day with Mr. Thornton to discuss his giving up his lease with Margaret. But when the time comes, Henry is a no-show. Mr. Thornton arrives on time for the meeting and is ushered into the drawing room, but there's no sign of Henry. Margaret delays going downstairs for an hour, hoping that Henry is just running late, but eventually gives up and enters the drawing room. The reason for Henry's absence is open for debate: it's possible that he didn't want to be present to witness the woman he's in love with- or at least, in like with- reconciling with his rival for her affections. Although 'rival' isn't the correct term to use... there was really no contest. But it's also possible that Henry thought that leaving the two of them alone would allow them to express their true feelings. Or it could be a combination of both those things; whatever his motivations, it does indeed get them to speak freely, though at first this seems in doubt. When Margaret enters the room, she is extremely nervous and wishes audibly that Henry was there to explain the plan she has in mind. It's not that she isn't perfectly capable of explaining it herself, but that she would prefer to have a third party present to act as a buffer between them. Self-consciously rustling her papers, Margaret outlines the plan she drew up with Henry to invest a great deal of the money which she inherited from Mr. Bell in Marlborough Mill, allowing John to stay in business. She is quick to point out that he will be able to give her a better return on investment than the bank's interest, no doubt fearing that Thornton's pride and sense of independence would cause him to refuse her offer if he thought that she was offering it out of pity. John, however, realises the same thing Henry did: that Margaret's actions betray the fact that she is not indifferent to him. This emboldens John to approach her once again, and they end up embracing. Margaret murmurs that she isn't worthy of him, and this underscores how complete the evolution of her thoughts and feelings has been; when they first met, she believed him to be inferior to her family despite his comparative wealth. John tells her that she's mocking his own feelings of unworthiness, and this is a good sign: they both think that they're getting the best of the deal. The two spend some more time canoodling; John pulls out some dried roses that he picked when he visited Helstone, explaining that he wanted to see the place where Margaret had become the person she was. Although she didn't actually spend a lot of time there, and I would argue that she didn't become the strong, compassionate, mature person worthy of his love until her experiences in Milton shaped her character. However, it's a nice, romantic gesture and he's duly rewarded for it (more canoodling). Margaret eventually surfaces to say that she doesn't know what she's going to tell her Aunt Shaw, and John offers to speak to her. Margaret says no, she'll do it but doesn't know what her Aunt will say; John jokes that it will probably be, "That man!" He's obviously aware that Aunt Shaw was not impressed by Milton or its inhabitants- himself included- when she travelled there to get Margaret. Margaret teases back that she'll do an impression of his mother's likely response to their relationship: "That woman!" Mrs. Thornton has never been backward about making Margaret aware of her disapproval. As we know, however, she's always had a sneaking admiration for Margaret's spirit, and the fact that she's going to save the mill and make John happy will go a long way, no doubt, to soften Mrs. Thornton's attitude. The novel ends here, so we are left to imagine what the confrontations with their various female relations would actually be like. Indeed, if I have a criticism of the book, it's that the ending is rather abrupt; after such a lengthy story, one feels as if the wrap up should have taken a little longer... at least long enough to have them meet up with Higgins again. However, end it does, and it at least gives us the satisfaction of seeing John and Margaret come together, free at long last from the prejudices and misunderstandings which had kept them apart. North & South is- obviously- a romance, but not just a romance. It is also a book which examines through it's characters and events the Industrial Revolution: it's pros and cons and it's effects, both positive and negative. It also compares the north of England, where this industrialisation was mainly taking place, with the south, where the system was still mainly that of landowners and tenant farmers. The conclusion of North & South is that, though there were of course some downsides, the Industrial Revolution was, for the poorer classes in England, by and large a good thing. It allowed for the first time upward mobility, higher living standards, and greater educational and economic chances to people who had rarely had access to these advantages before. North & South also draws attention to the rise of worker's unions which accompanied the formation of mills and factories, and in a remarkably even-handed way. Through Nicholas Higgins and the other hands, we see why the union became necessary, yet we also see the abuses it perpetrated and the sometimes shortsighted actions it took through ignorance or desperation. Through Thornton and the other mill owners, we get a look at the disdain masters frequently had for the hands, leading them to eschew explaining their actions to the workers. We also see some of them- not Thornton- cutting corners and being callous about workers' safety, leading to injuries and sickness. But Gaskell also shows the desperate position that the owners are in: the economy has taken a downturn, the market is being flooded with cheap cotton from America, and given the option of increasing the workers' wages as demanded or staying in business, they made the only decision possible. Finally, North & South provides many great studies in human nature. None of the characters in this book are impossibly good or unbelievably evil; they are believable people with virtues and vices, strengths and weaknesses. Mr. Hale, for example, is a weak and often ineffectual man, unable to face the harsh realities of life. He's also, however, a compassionate and caring person, capable of seeing worth in both a self-made mill owner with a chip on his shoulder, and an angry, grieving, slightly tipsy mill hand (also with a chip on his shoulder) and of being a good friend to both. Through the events in the novel, we see the depths and divisions to which people can be brought, by tragedy or personal failure, but we also see that these things can strengthen peoples' characters and bring them together. All in all, it is a great novel, one that I have read several times. Related Posts:This image is from the final scene in the 1942 film Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Set in World War II, the movie tells the story of Rick Blaine (Bogart), a night club owner in Casablanca who is trying to keep his head down and run his business, intent on remaining neutral and uninvolved in the global conflict. This proves impossible when his former lover Ilsa (Bergman) arrives with her husband Victor Laszlo, a resistance leader on the run from the Nazis. They are looking for assistance in escaping to America. In the above scene, Rick has obtained letters of transit for Ilsa and Victor and they are leaving by plane when the German Major Strasser arrives and attempts to sound the alarm. Rick shoots him and Captain Renault, the corrupt and self-serving police chief who is nevertheless a loyal Frenchman, covers for Rick, telling his men to- in the now iconic phrase- "Round up the usual suspects."
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