# III explained — The History of Mr. Polly

> Chapter companion for The History of Mr. Polly by H. G. Wells.

## What happens

Mr. Polly serves his apprenticeship at the Port Burdock Drapery Bazaar, finding the work tedious but enjoying the social life with fellow apprentices Platt and Parsons. The three form a close friendship, exploring literature, singing, and drinking, while Mr. Polly secretly wrestles with the contrasting influences of the pious Morrison and the bohemian Parsons.

## Themes in this chapter

### Education and Social Failure

Mr. Polly's apprenticeship provides a different kind of education—social and literary—but he remains inattentive to trade, reflecting his failure to conform to expected paths.

### Imagination vs. Conformity

Parsons' literary enthusiasm and the Three Ps' artistic pretensions clash with the mundane demands of shop life and the piety of Morrison.

### Health and Indigestion

Mr. Polly's indigestion persists during his apprenticeship, a physical manifestation of his discomfort with his circumstances.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Polly

Apprenticed at Port Burdock Drapery Bazaar, forms the Three Ps with Platt and Parsons, struggles with indigestion and conflicting influences.

### Parsons

Fellow apprentice and member of the Three Ps, enthusiastic about literature, recites Shakespeare and Milton, introduces Mr. Polly to Bocaccio and Rabelais.

### Platt

Fellow apprentice and member of the Three Ps, dark and mysterious, reads Modern Society, leads singing with a tenor voice.

### Morrison

A pious improver in the dormitory, leads a religious life, washes the junior apprentice's feet, represents a moral counterpoint to the Three Ps.

## Key lines

> Mr. Polly was not naturally interested in hosiery and gentlemen’s outfitting.

Mr. Polly had no genuine enthusiasm for the drapery trade.

_Establishes his fundamental disengagement from his apprenticeship._

> He would watch them going to and fro, and marvel secretly at the beauty of their hair or the roundness of their necks or the warm softness of their cheeks or the delicacy of their hands.

He secretly admired the female apprentices, fascinated by their physical beauty.

_Highlights Mr. Polly's romantic and idealistic view of women._

> They decided they were the Three Ps, and went about together of an evening with the bearing of desperate dogs.

The three apprentices formed a close-knit trio and acted with a swaggering bravado.

_Captures the camaraderie and performative masculinity of the group._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_history_of_mr_polly_se/chapters/iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_history_of_mr_polly_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_history_of_mr_polly_se/chapters