# LXVIII explained — Lavengro

> Chapter companion for Lavengro by George Borrow.

## What happens

The narrator stops at a cottage for ale and encounters a despondent tinker and his family. After sharing his ale, the tinker reveals his troubles: he is being driven off his beat by the Flaming Tinman, a larger and crueler tinker who threatened him. The narrator discusses the virtues of the tinker's life versus a scholar's, and the tinker breaks down at the thought of giving up his trade.

## Themes in this chapter

### Freedom vs. Convention

The narrator contrasts the freedom of the tinker's life with the drudgery of a schoolmaster's, praising the tinker's independence and connection to nature.

### Social Class and Gentility

The tinker's wife was a tradesman's daughter who married beneath her station, and the narrator's interaction highlights class distinctions and the dignity of manual labor.

## Character check-ins

### Lavengro

The narrator stops at a cottage for ale, shares it with a tinker and his family, and engages in a philosophical discussion about the tinker's life versus a scholar's.

### The Flaming Tinman

Mentioned as the antagonist who is driving the tinker off his beat; described as the biggest rogue and cruellest in England.

### The Tinker

A grimy-looking tinker who is despondent because the Flaming Tinman is forcing him to give up his trade; he shares his life story with the narrator.

## Key lines

> Oh, genial and gladdening is the power of good ale, the true and proper drink of Englishmen.

The narrator praises ale as a comforting and joyful drink, essential to English identity.

_Reflects the narrator's view that ale has a restorative social function, especially in times of distress._

> What can be better than to be one's own master? Now, a tinker is his own master, a scholar is not.

The narrator argues that the tinker's independence is superior to the scholar's constrained life.

_Highlights the theme of freedom versus convention, valuing autonomy over institutional roles._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/lxviii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se/chapters