Bleak House · Chapter
Our Dear Brother explained
The chapter describes the inquest into the death of Nemo, the law-writer, held at the Sol's Arms.
What happens
The chapter describes the inquest into the death of Nemo, the law-writer, held at the Sol's Arms. The coroner and jury view the body in Krook's lodging, and various characters, including Mr. Tulkinghorn and Mr. Snagsby, are drawn into the investigation. Nemo is buried in a squalid, pestilential churchyard, and Jo, the crossing-sweeper, mourns him by sweeping the step of the gate.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Inequality
The contrast between the squalid burial of Nemo and the indifference of the legal and social system highlights the devaluation of the poor.
Bureaucracy and Dehumanization
The inquest is a mechanical, almost farcical process, reducing a man's death to a routine inquiry, with the coroner more concerned about skittles than the deceased.
Environment and Atmosphere
The grim, polluted churchyard and the oppressive setting of Krook's shop underscore the decay and moral corruption of the urban landscape.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Tulkinghorn
Attends the inquest and questions Mr. Snagsby about the deceased, showing his professional interest in the case.
- Mr. Snagsby
Assists at the inquest, providing information about Nemo's copying work and his arrival at Krook's.
- Mr. Krook
The landlord of the deceased, present at the inquest, but unable to provide much information about his lodger.
- Jo
Visits the cemetery at night, sweeping the step and muttering that Nemo 'wos wery good to me.'
- Little Swills
The comic vocalist at the Sol's Arms, present at the inquest as a spectator.
- Guster
The maid at Mr. Snagsby's, who suffers fits after hearing about the inquest.
Key passages
“the lonely figure on the bed, whose path in life has lain through five and forty years, lies there with no more track behind him, that anyone can trace, than a deserted infant.”
The dead man, after forty-five years of life, leaves no more trace of his existence than an abandoned baby.
Emphasizes the anonymity and insignificance of Nemo's life.
“Into a beastly scrap of ground which a Turk would reject as a savage abomination and a Caffre would shudder at, they bring our dear brother here departed to receive Christian burial.”
They bury the deceased in a filthy patch of land that even a Turk or a Kaffir would find repulsive, yet they call it a Christian burial.
Highlights the hypocrisy and degradation of the burial practices for the poor.
“He wos wery good to me, he wos!”
He was very good to me, he was!
Jo's simple tribute to Nemo, showing the only genuine human connection in the chapter.