# X: The Dreams of Mrs. Flintwinch Thicken explained — Little Dorrit > Chapter companion for Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. ## What happens Arthur Clennam, after several days spent at the Circumlocution Office, walks to his mother's house on a dreary night, his mind filled with oppressive secrets and the memory of Miss Wade and Tattycoram. He encounters the mysterious Blandois in the street and later finds him in his mother's room, engaged in a familiar and mocking conversation with Mr. Flintwinch. Mrs. Clennam dismisses Arthur coldly, and Affery, terrified, urges him to leave, hinting at strange occurrences. ## Themes in this chapter ### Secrecy and Revelation The chapter is saturated with secrets: the secrets of the city, the house, and the family; Arthur senses hidden truths and Affery hints at a dreamlike concealment. ### Imprisonment and Confinement Arthur feels oppressed by the shadow of his mother's house and the secrets it holds; the imagery of convicts and locked rooms reinforces a sense of confinement. ### Family Dynamics and Obligation Arthur's dutiful visit to his mother is met with cold dismissal; the strained relationship and hidden family secrets underscore the theme of familial obligation. ## Character check-ins ### Arthur Clennam Walks to his mother's house, preoccupied with secrets and his recent glimpse of Miss Wade and Tattycoram; is disturbed by the presence of Blandois and his mother's cold dismissal. ### Mrs. Clennam Presides inflexibly in her room, silently observing Blandois; dismisses Arthur with a cold command, her cheek strained and cold. ### Mr. Flintwinch Engages with Blandois in a mocking, familiar manner; remains stolid and wooden, watching Arthur while Mrs. Clennam watches Blandois. ### Monsieur Rigaud Appears as Blandois, the visitor; flushes with drink, snaps his fingers contemptuously, and makes ominous remarks about trust and safety. ### Affery Flintwinch Appears ghastly with her apron over her head, speaking in a deadened voice; urges Arthur to leave, claiming she has been in a dream. ## Key lines > The shadow thickening and thickening as he approached its source, he thought of the secrets of the lonely church-vaults, where the people who had hoarded and secreted in iron coffers were in their turn similarly hoarded, not yet at rest from doing harm; and then of the secrets of the river, as it rolled its turbid tide between two frowning wildernesses of secrets, extending, thick and dense, for many miles, and warding off the free air and the free country swept by winds and wings of birds. As the darkness grew around him, Arthur imagined the hidden secrets of church vaults where the dead still seemed to cause harm, and the river's murky flow between two vast, secretive landscapes that blocked out the open countryside. _Arthur's brooding on the pervasive secrecy of London and its hidden dangers._ > For Heaven’s sake, Affery,” whispered Clennam, as she opened the door for him in the dark hall, and he groped his way to the sight of the night-sky, “what is going on here?” Her own appearance was sufficiently ghastly, standing in the dark with her apron thrown over her head, and speaking behind it in a low, deadened voice. “Don’t ask me anything, Arthur. I’ve been in a dream for ever so long. Go away!” Arthur whispered to Affery, asking what was happening, but she looked terrifying with her apron over her head and told him not to ask, saying she had been dreaming for a long time and to leave. _Affery's fearful refusal to explain the strange events in the house._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/x-the-dreams-of-mrs-flintwinch-thicken - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/little_dorrit_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters