Little Dorrit · Chapter
A Shoal of Barnacles explained
The chapter details the wedding preparations for Henry Gowan and Pet Meagles, with Mrs.
What happens
The chapter details the wedding preparations for Henry Gowan and Pet Meagles, with Mrs. Gowan orchestrating a gathering of the Barnacle family to lend prestige to the event. Arthur Clennam, bound by a promise, agrees to attend despite his discomfort. The narrative satirizes the Barnacle family's pervasive influence in government and society, epitomized by Lord Decimus Tite Barnacle's philosophy of 'How not to do it' and the family's self-serving machinations. The wedding itself is marked by awkwardness and hypocrisy, as the Barnacles condescend to the Meagleses, and Gowan flaunts his poverty and resentment.
Themes in this chapter
Bureaucracy and Institutional Corruption
The Barnacle family's control of the Circumlocution Office exemplifies systemic corruption, where jobs are handed out based on family connections and the primary goal is to obstruct any real progress.
Social Class and Hypocrisy
The wedding highlights class tensions, with the Barnacles condescending to the Meagleses while pretending to celebrate, and Gowan's ostentatious poverty underscoring the hypocrisy of family pride.
Wealth and Moral Decline
The Barnacles' obsession with positions and patronage, and Gowan's reliance on his wife's family to pay his debts, reflect the moral decay associated with wealth and status.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Clennam
Attends the wedding out of a sacred promise, feeling the pain of the occasion more than the pleasure.
- Pet Meagles
The bride, who is married to Henry Gowan at the Barnacle-filled wedding.
- Henry Gowan
The groom, who ostentatiously displays his poverty and resentment toward his family at the wedding.
- Mr. Meagles
The father of the bride, overwhelmed by the Barnacle company and not himself during the festivities.
- Mrs. Gowan
Arranges the Barnacle gathering and remains herself, which does not improve Mr. Meagles's spirits.
- Lord Decimus Tite Barnacle
The leading Barnacle, who delivers a series of platitudinous speeches and embodies the family's philosophy of 'How not to do it'.
- Daniel Doyce
Declines the wedding invitation, preferring not to eat and drink with the Barnacles after their obstructive behavior.
- William Barnacle
A Barnacle politician who uses Precedent and Precipitate to obstruct any real action in Parliament.
Key passages
“The discovery of this Behoving Machine was the discovery of the political perpetual motion. It never wore out, though it was always going round and round in all the State Departments.”
Lord Decimus's principle of 'How not to do it' was like a political perpetual motion machine, endlessly circulating through government departments without ever producing results.
Highlights the satire of bureaucratic inertia.
“Then Lord Decimus, who was a wonder on his own Parliamentary pedestal, turned out to be the windiest creature here: proposing happiness to the bride and bridegroom in a series of platitudes that would have made the hair of any sincere disciple and believer stand on end.”
Lord Decimus, impressive in Parliament, proved to be the most pompous speaker at the wedding, delivering empty platitudes that would horrify any genuine follower.
Critiques the emptiness of political rhetoric.
