Robbery Under Arms · Chapter
VIII explained
Dick Marston reflects on the inevitability of his criminal fate, as old M'Intyre warns that the Marstons are born to be outlaws.
What happens
Dick Marston reflects on the inevitability of his criminal fate, as old M'Intyre warns that the Marstons are born to be outlaws. The chapter describes the shearers' Saturday trip to town, Jim Marston's impressive appearance and horsemanship, and Mr. Falkland's character as a gentleman squatter who tries to uplift his workers. Dick and Jim engage in card games, accumulating debt, until a letter from home with money—likely from Starlight—allows them to win back their losses. Dick feels the pull of fate and the corrupting influence of easy money.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Free Will
Dick questions whether the Marstons are doomed to a life of crime, as M'Intyre suggests, or if they can choose a different path.
Class and Social Mobility
Mr. Falkland represents the possibility of improvement through hard work, but Dick is skeptical that the upper class will share opportunities.
Crime and Punishment
The arrival of money from Starlight reinforces the Marstons' entanglement with crime, and Dick feels the pull of the 'cross' (criminal life).
Characters to notice
- Dick Marston
Narrator; reflects on fate and the Marston family's criminal destiny; feels the temptation of ill-gotten money.
- Jim Marston
Dick's brother; described as handsome, strong, and a superb rider; Mr. Falkland's favorite; reluctantly drawn into card playing.
- Mr. Falkland
The 'big squatter'; a gentleman who takes an interest in his workers, especially Jim; disapproves of card playing but tolerates it.
- Mr. M'Intyre
Overseer at Boree shed; speaks in Scots dialect; warns that the Marstons are fated to be outlaws.
- Aileen Marston
Dick's sister; sends a letter from home to Dick at Boree.
- Captain Starlight
Implied to have written the letter from Dick's father; sends money from criminal activities.
Key passages
“Marstons? They’re as good’s ready money in auld Nick’s purse. It’s bred and born and welded in them.”
The Marstons are destined for evil; their criminal nature is in their blood.
M'Intyre's fatalistic view of the Marston family's character.
“I wonder if what he said was true—if we couldn’t help it; if it was in our blood?”
Dick wonders if their criminal tendencies are unavoidable and inherited.
Dick's internal struggle with the idea of fate versus free will.
“We should like to see you all have farms of your own—to be all well taught and able to make the best of your lives—not driven to drink, as many of you are, because you have no notion of any rational amusement, and anything between hard work and idle dissipation.”
Mr. Falkland expresses a desire for workers to own land and have better lives, rather than falling into drinking and gambling.
Mr. Falkland's paternalistic vision for improving the working class.