The History of Mr. Polly · Chapter
I: Beginnings, and the Bazaar explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Polly, suffering from indigestion and discontent, sits on a stile and reflects on his miserable life, his failing shop, and his strained marriage. The chapter then flashes back to his youth as an apprentice at Port Burdock Bazaar, where he formed a close friendship with Platt and Parsons, the 'Three Ps,' and first experienced the stirrings of romantic and intellectual curiosity.
Themes in this chapter
Discontent and Escape
Mr. Polly's profound dissatisfaction with his life, his shop, and his marriage is central to the chapter, as he longs for escape from his 'beastly silly hole.'
Health and Indigestion
Mr. Polly's chronic indigestion is a recurring motif, symbolizing his inner turmoil and projecting his discomfort onto the world.
Education and Social Failure
Mr. Polly's inadequate education and inability to manage his finances contribute to his sense of failure and entrapment.
Imagination vs. Conformity
The flashback to the Three Ps shows Mr. Polly's youthful yearning for adventure and intellectual stimulation, contrasting with the dull conformity of his adult life.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Polly
Suffering from indigestion and discontent, reflects on his miserable life and failing shop; flashback to his youth as an apprentice at Port Burdock Bazaar.
- Miriam
Mr. Polly's wife; she retrieves his old hat, triggering his rage, and later cleans up after his tantrum.
- Parsons
One of the 'Three Ps' at Port Burdock Bazaar; a friend with a love for literature and recitation.
- Platt
One of the 'Three Ps' at Port Burdock Bazaar; a friend with a good tenor voice and a curiosity about society.
Key passages
“Hole!” said Mr. Polly, and then for a change, and with greatly increased emphasis: “ ’Ole! ” He paused, and then broke out with one of his private and peculiar idioms. “Oh! Beastly Silly Wheeze of a Hole!””
Mr. Polly exclaims in frustration, calling his situation a 'beastly silly hole.'
Establishes Mr. Polly's discontent and his idiosyncratic way of expressing it.
“He suffered from indigestion now nearly every afternoon in his life, but as he lacked introspection he projected the associated discomfort upon the world.”
Mr. Polly's chronic indigestion makes him blame the world for his misery, unaware of the physical cause.
Highlights the theme of health and indigestion and Mr. Polly's lack of self-awareness.
“Behind the superficialities of Mr. Polly’s being, moved a larger and vaguer distress. The elementary education he had acquired had left him with the impression that arithmetic was a fluky science and best avoided in practical affairs, but even the absence of bookkeeping and a total inability to distinguish between capital and interest could not blind him forever to the fact that the little shop in the High Street was not paying.”
Mr. Polly's poor education and financial ignorance cannot hide the reality that his shop is failing.
Illustrates the theme of education and social failure, and the economic trap Mr. Polly faces.