Dombey and Son · Chapter
XXXIX: Further Adventures of Captain Edward Cuttle, Mariner explained
Captain Cuttle, in self-imposed retirement, anxiously awaits the expiration of the year enjoined by Solomon Gills before opening the sealed packet.
What happens
Captain Cuttle, in self-imposed retirement, anxiously awaits the expiration of the year enjoined by Solomon Gills before opening the sealed packet. He avoids Mr. Dombey's house and Florence, feeling his past intervention may have done harm. He lives quietly with Rob the Grinder, whom he trusts, and keeps to a routine of reading and reflection. Mrs. MacStinger confronts him, but Captain Bunsby pacifies her and leads her away. Later, Rob the Grinder betrays the Captain by stealing and leaving, causing Cuttle deep loneliness. He arranges for the Midshipman's care, reduces provisions, and takes to sleeping under the counter. When the year expires, he seeks a witness to open the packet and writes to Bunsby.
Themes in this chapter
Redemption and Change
Captain Cuttle's self-imposed exile and his attempt to atone for perceived past harm reflect a desire for redemption, though he struggles with feelings of failure and isolation.
Family and Neglect
The Captain's separation from Florence and Walter, and his subsequent loneliness, highlight themes of familial neglect and the pain of broken bonds.
Innocence and Childhood
The Captain's memories of Florence and Walter as 'beautiful and innocent children' evoke a lost innocence, contrasted with Rob's treachery and the harsh realities of adult betrayal.
Characters to notice
- Captain Cuttle
In self-imposed retirement, troubled by doubts about his past intervention, he keeps to himself, reads, and tends the shop. He is deeply affected by Rob's betrayal and feels abandoned.
- Rob the Grinder
The Captain's trusted companion, but he proves false: he steals pigeons, money, and a jacket, then leaves after insulting the Midshipman, causing the Captain great distress.
- Mrs. MacStinger
Confronts Captain Cuttle at the Midshipman, demanding he return home. She is eventually pacified and led away by Captain Bunsby.
- Mr. Bunsby
Captain of the Cautious Clara, he arrives and skillfully calms Mrs. MacStinger, acting as convoy to take her and her family home. Later, the Captain writes to him to witness the opening of the packet.
- Florence Dombey
Mentioned as Heart's Delight; the Captain avoids her out of remorse and modesty, thinking he has done her harm.
- Walter Gay
Mentioned as dear boy Wal'r; the Captain thinks of him and Florence as lost to him, and his memory of them is of eternal youth.
Key passages
“Time, sure of foot and strong of will, had so pressed onward, that the year enjoined by the old Instrument-maker, as the term during which his friend should refrain from opening the sealed packet accompanying the letter he had left for him, was now nearly expired”
The year that Solomon Gills had asked Captain Cuttle to wait before opening the sealed packet was almost over.
Sets the temporal context for the chapter's central action.
“The Captain, in his honour, would as soon have thought of opening the parcel one hour before the expiration of the term, as he would have thought of opening himself, to study his own anatomy.”
The Captain considered it as unthinkable to open the packet early as it would be to dissect his own body.
Highlights the Captain's strict sense of honor and duty.
“Self-buried, therefore, among the instruments, the Captain never went near Mr. Dombey’s house, or reported himself in any way to Florence or Miss Nipper.”
The Captain isolated himself among his nautical instruments and avoided any contact with Mr. Dombey, Florence, or Susan Nipper.
Shows the Captain's self-imposed exile due to guilt.
“Rob the Grinder, whose reverence for the inspired writings, under the admirable system of the Grinders’ School, had been developed by a perpetual bruising of his intellectual shins against all the proper names of all the tribes of Judah”
Rob's religious education at the Grinders' School had been a painful and mechanical process, not a genuine spiritual development.
Satirizes the harsh and ineffective educational methods of the time.
“Captain Cuttle could hardly believe it, even of this great man, though he saw it done with his waking eyes; but Bunsby, advancing boldly, put his shaggy blue arm round Mrs. MacStinger, and so softened her by his magic way of doing it, and by these few words—he said no more—that she melted into tears”
Captain Cuttle was astonished to see Bunsby calm Mrs. MacStinger simply by putting his arm around her and saying a few words, causing her to cry and become docile.
Demonstrates Bunsby's remarkable and almost magical influence over the formidable Mrs. MacStinger.
“And now, that the false Rob had brought distrust, treachery, and meanness into the very parlour, which was a kind of sacred place, Captain Cuttle felt as if the parlour might have gone down next, and not surprised him much by its sinking”
Rob's betrayal defiled the Captain's sacred parlour, making him feel so numb that even the room collapsing would not have shocked him.
Conveys the depth of the Captain's emotional devastation.
