Martin Chuzzlewit · Chapter
Chapter XV explained
Martin and Mark endure the final days of their Atlantic voyage aboard the Screw.
What happens
Martin and Mark endure the final days of their Atlantic voyage aboard the Screw. Martin remains seasick and prideful, refusing to mingle with the steerage passengers, while Mark Tapley cheerfully helps everyone around him, including a poor woman traveling with her children to join her husband. The chapter highlights Mark's relentless good nature and Martin's stubborn shame about his reduced circumstances.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Pretension
Martin's refusal to go on deck stems from his fear of being recognized as a poor steerage passenger, highlighting his preoccupation with social status even in reduced circumstances.
Redemption and Self-Discovery
Mark Tapley's selfless kindness and resilience contrast with Martin's pride, suggesting a potential for growth and change through hardship.
Characters to notice
- Martin Chuzzlewit
Lies in his berth, seasick and ashamed of his steerage status, refusing to go on deck to avoid being seen as poverty-stricken.
- Mark Tapley
Cheerfully helps a poor woman and her children, washes them, and performs various kindnesses despite his own seasickness; becomes universally popular on board.
Key passages
“I lie here because I don't wish to be recognized, in the better days to which I aspire, by any purse-proud citizen, as the man who came over with him among the steerage passengers.”
Martin explains that he stays in his berth to avoid being seen by wealthy people who might later remember him as a poor steerage passenger.
Reveals Martin's pride and anxiety about social class.
“If a gleam of sun shone out of the dark sky, down Mark tumbled into the cabin, and presently up he came again with a woman in his arms, or half-a-dozen children, or a man, or a bed, or a saucepan, or a basket, or something animate or inanimate, that he thought would be the better for the air.”
Whenever there was a brief moment of sunshine, Mark would rush below and bring up anyone or anything that might benefit from fresh air.
Illustrates Mark's tireless helpfulness and good nature.