# XXX: Closing In explained — Little Dorrit

> Chapter companion for Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.

## What happens

Mrs. Clennam recounts her harsh upbringing and her marriage to Arthur's father, revealing her discovery of his secret marriage and child, which she saw as a divine mandate for punishment. Rigaud then manipulates the conversation, exposing the family's hidden history, including the suppression of a paper that would have altered the Dorrit fortune. Affery Flintwinch, in a fit of terror, reveals that Jeremiah's twin brother took the paper away on the night Arthur returned, confirming her dreams as true.

## Themes in this chapter

### Secrecy and Revelation

The chapter revolves around the exposure of long-hidden family secrets, including the suppressed paper and the truth about Arthur's father's marriage.

### Imprisonment and Confinement

Mrs. Clennam's physical confinement within the house mirrors her spiritual and emotional imprisonment by her own rigid beliefs and past actions.

### Family Dynamics and Obligation

The oppressive family structure, with the uncle controlling the nephew's marriage and Mrs. Clennam's vengeful punishment, highlights dysfunctional familial obligations.

## Character check-ins

### Mrs. Clennam

Defends her lifelong harshness and punishment of others as divine appointment, revealing her discovery of her husband's secret marriage and child.

### Monsieur Rigaud

Coercively narrates the Clennam family history, exposing secrets and manipulating Mrs. Clennam and Flintwinch.

### Mr. Flintwinch

Threatens Affery and is physically restrained by Rigaud after she reveals his twin brother's role in hiding the paper.

### Affery Flintwinch

Terrified, she blurts out that her dreams are true, revealing that Jeremiah's twin brother took the paper on the night Arthur returned.

### Arthur Clennam

Referenced as the nephew whose father was forced into marriage and whose father's secret is central to the revelations.

### Frederick Dorrit

Mentioned as the agent who helped the singing girl (Little Dorrit's mother) against Mrs. Clennam, and later as ruined and imbecile.

## Key lines

> Mine were days of wholesome repression, punishment, and fear. The corruption of our hearts, the evil of our ways, the curse that is upon us, the terrors that surround us⁠—these were the themes of my childhood.

Mrs. Clennam describes her childhood as filled with repression, punishment, and fear, where she was constantly taught about human corruption and divine curses.

_Reveals the foundation of Mrs. Clennam's harsh worldview._

> When I forced him to give her up to me, by her name and place of abode... when I accused her, and she fell hiding her face at my feet, was it my injury that I asserted, were they my reproaches that I poured upon her?

Mrs. Clennam justifies her harsh treatment of her husband's secret lover by claiming she was acting as a divine instrument, not out of personal injury.

_Highlights Mrs. Clennam's self-righteous justification for her vengeful actions._

> I owe my knowledge and my proofs⁠—I repeat it, estimable lady⁠—proofs⁠—of the ravishing little family history I go to commence.

Rigaud boasts to Mrs. Clennam that he possesses evidence of the family's hidden history, which he is about to reveal.

_Shows Rigaud's manipulative and threatening control over the situation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters/xxx-closing-in
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/little_dorrit_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/little_dorrit_se/chapters