Martin Chuzzlewit · Chapter
XL explained
Tom Pinch continues his mysterious employment in the Temple, haunted by the unknown identity of his employer.
What happens
Tom Pinch continues his mysterious employment in the Temple, haunted by the unknown identity of his employer. He and his sister Ruth encounter Mrs. Gamp at the wharf, who laments the dangers of steamships and expresses concern for a young lady about to board the Antwerp packet.
Themes in this chapter
Mystery and the Unknown
Tom's employment is shrouded in mystery, with an unseen employer and ghostly atmosphere in the Temple chambers.
Social Class and Pretension
Mrs. Gamp's speech reflects class distinctions and her own pretensions to wisdom and experience.
Characters to notice
- Tom Pinch
Tom is absorbed in his mysterious work at the Temple, speculating about his unseen employer and enjoying his quiet, studious life.
- Ruth Pinch
Ruth accompanies Tom on his morning walks and engages in conversation with Mrs. Gamp at the wharf.
- Sarah Gamp
Mrs. Gamp is encountered at the wharf, delivering a dramatic monologue about the perils of steamships and a young lady passenger.
- Mr. Fips
Mr. Fips pays Tom his weekly salary but offers little information about the mysterious employer, advising Tom to keep his employment private.
- John Westlock
John reassures Tom that Mr. Pecksniff is incapable of a generous action, dismissing Tom's suspicion that Pecksniff might be behind his employment.
Key passages
“It seemed to Tom, every morning, that he approached this ghostly mist, and became enveloped in it, by the easiest succession of degrees imaginable.”
Each morning, Tom felt as though he gradually entered a mysterious fog that surrounded him all day.
Describes Tom's sense of entering a strange, enchanted world in the Temple.
“But John assured him that he (Tom Pinch) was far from doing justice to the character of Mr. Pecksniff yet, if he supposed that gentleman capable of performing a generous action; and that he might make his mind quite easy on that head until he saw the sun turn green and the moon black...”
John told Tom that he underestimated Pecksniff's selfishness, and that he could rest assured Pecksniff would never do anything generous until impossible things happened.
John Westlock dismisses Tom's suspicion that Pecksniff might be his benefactor.
“Our calcilations, ma'am, I says, respectin' wot the number of a family will be, comes most times within one, and oftener than you would suppoge, exact.”
Mrs. Gamp claims that her predictions about family sizes are usually accurate to within one child.
Mrs. Gamp boasts of her supposed prophetic abilities regarding childbirth.