The Inheritors · Chapter
XVII explained
The narrator holds the proof of Callan's damning article about de Mersch's Greenland fraud.
What happens
The narrator holds the proof of Callan's damning article about de Mersch's Greenland fraud. He grapples with the moral and personal consequences of publishing it, realizing it will ruin everyone he knows and upend the old order. He is torn between his desire for the enigmatic woman and his sense of duty. After a night of indecision, he goes to Fox's flat, takes over duties, and oversees the publication process, struggling with Evans and Soane.
Themes in this chapter
Power of the Press and Manipulation
The narrator holds the proof of Callan's article, recognizing that its publication will destroy reputations and shift political power.
Decline of the Old Order
The narrator sees that traditional ideals of honour and conscience have been used to uphold a gigantic fraud, and the old order must fall.
Love and Betrayal
The narrator's desire for the enigmatic woman conflicts with his duty to expose the truth, leading him to consider betraying those who trust him.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
Holds the power to publish or suppress Callan's article, torn between love and duty.
- Mr. Callan
His article exposes the Greenland fraud, threatening ruin for many.
- Mr. Fox
Ill and resting, he entrusts the narrator with overseeing the publication of Callan's article.
- Soane
The drunken but gifted editor tasked with handling Callan's manuscript; the narrator tries to keep him focused.
- Mr. Evans
A stubborn Welshman at the office who feigns stupidity and creates petty obstacles for the narrator.
- Mr. Churchill
Mentioned as the one who would stick to the saner policy, but likely to lose supporters.
Key passages
“The safety of everything one respected and believed in was involved in the disclosure of an atrocious fraud, and the disclosure was in my hands.”
The revelation of the fraud threatened all the values I held dear, and I alone controlled whether it would be made public.
The narrator realizes the immense responsibility and danger of possessing the truth.
“What was appalling was the sudden perception that all the traditional ideals of honour, glory, conscience, had been committed to the upholding of a gigantic and atrocious fraud.”
It was horrifying to realize that our most cherished principles had been used to support a massive lie.
The narrator's disillusionment with the old order and its hypocrisy.
“If I let the thing go on, they would be done for utterly, and the new era would begin.”
If I allowed the article to be published, everyone involved would be ruined, and a new age would start.
The narrator weighs the catastrophic consequences of publication against the possibility of change.