Our Mutual Friend · Chapter
Cut Adrift explained
Lizzie Hexam prepares her brother Charley to leave home for school, urging him to escape their father's influence and pursue education.
What happens
Lizzie Hexam prepares her brother Charley to leave home for school, urging him to escape their father's influence and pursue education. She gives him money and clothes, insisting he speak well of their father. Later, Miss Abbey Potterson warns Lizzie that Gaffer Hexam is suspected of murder, and forbids him from the Fellowship Porters. Lizzie defends her father and refuses to leave him. Gaffer returns home, notices Charley's absence, and reacts with anger.
Themes in this chapter
Education and Ambition
Lizzie sacrifices to send Charley to school, believing education will give him a better future, despite their father's opposition.
Death and Mortality
The shadow of the Harmon murder hangs over the chapter, with suspicions and accusations threatening Gaffer Hexam's life and reputation.
Charity and Hypocrisy
Miss Abbey offers help to Lizzie but ultimately prioritizes the reputation of her establishment over the girl's welfare, showing conditional charity.
Characters to notice
- Lizzie Hexam
Prepares her brother Charley to leave home, defends her father against suspicion, and refuses Miss Abbey's offer to leave Gaffer.
- Charley Hexam
Resists leaving at first but ultimately accepts his sister's plan to go to school and better himself.
- Gaffer Hexam
Returns home to find Charley gone; reacts with anger and suspicion, calling his son 'unnatural' for wanting learning.
- Miss Abbey Potterson
Warns Lizzie about the rumors against Gaffer and forbids both Gaffer and Riderhood from the Fellowship Porters.
- Roger Riderhood
Mentioned as the source of accusations against Gaffer Hexam; Lizzie suspects he may have committed the Harmon murder.
Key passages
“You are a selfish jade, and you think there's not enough for three of us, and you want to get rid of me.”
Charley accuses Lizzie of being selfish and trying to send him away because there isn't enough money for all three of them.
Charley's angry outburst reveals his insecurity and the family's poverty.
“Be sure you always speak well of father. Be sure you always give father his full due.”
Lizzie insists that Charley must never say anything bad about their father, no matter what he hears.
Lizzie's loyalty to her father is absolute, even as she sends her brother away.
“The Fellowships must not have a taint upon it that may give it a bad name. I forbid the house to Riderhood, and I forbid the house to Gaffer.”
Miss Abbey decides to ban both Gaffer and Riderhood from her pub to protect its reputation from the murder suspicions.
Miss Abbey prioritizes her establishment's respectability over individual loyalties.