Better to Be Abel Than Cain explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Death and Mortality

  Bradley's obsessive replaying of the attack and his fixation on perfecting the murder highlight the theme of death and the psychological torment of the perpetrator.

• Education and Ambition

  Charley Hexam's cold ambition to climb the social ladder through respectability and his rejection of both his sister and Bradley underscore the theme of education and ambition.

• The River as Symbol

  The spectral river at dawn and the lock-house setting symbolize the murky boundary between life and death, as well as the hidden currents of guilt and violence.

Characters to notice

• Bradley Headstone

  Returns to Riderhood's lock-house after two nights away, showing signs of a violent struggle; later tormented by obsessive thoughts of perfecting his crime.

• Roger Riderhood

  Harbors Bradley at the lock-house, observes his torn clothes and spots, and deduces his involvement in an attack; later releases him but remains a lurking threat.

• Charley Hexam

  Confronts Bradley Headstone, severing ties and blaming him for compromising his respectability through his obsession with Lizzie.

• Lizzie Hexam

  Referenced by Charley as the subject of Bradley's obsession and the cause of conflict with Eugene Wrayburn.

• Eugene Wrayburn

  Referenced as the rival in Bradley's hatred and the target of the attack.

• Miss Peecher

  Observes Bradley from behind a blind, contemplating offering him smelling salts for headache.

Key passages

• “Day was breaking at Plashwater Weir Mill Lock. Stars were yet visible, but there was dull light in the east that was not the light of night. The moon had gone down, and a mist crept along the banks of the river, seen through which the trees were the ghosts of trees, and the water was the ghost of water.”

  Dawn arrives at the lock, with a pale, eerie light replacing the night; the mist makes trees and water appear ghostly.

  Sets a spectral, foreboding atmosphere for Bradley's return.

• “There are fifty doors by which discovery may enter. With infinite pains and cunning, he double locks and bars forty-nine of them, and cannot see the fiftieth standing wide open.”

  A criminal may carefully block many paths to exposure, but inevitably overlooks one obvious vulnerability.

  Highlights Bradley's fatal blindness to Riderhood's suspicion.

• “The state of that wretch who continually finds the weak spots in his own crime, and strives to strengthen them when it is unchangeable, is a state that aggravates the offence by doing the deed a thousand times instead of once.”

  The torment of endlessly rethinking and trying to perfect an already committed crime makes the offender relive it repeatedly, worsening the guilt.

  Describes Bradley's obsessive mental replay of the attack.

• “I have made up my mind that I will become respectable in the scale of society, and that I will not be dragged down by others. I have done with my sister as well as with you.”

  Charley decides to prioritize his social standing above all, cutting ties with both his sister and Bradley to avoid being tainted by their actions.

  Reveals Charley's ruthless ambition and rejection of family and former ally.