The Mill on the Floss · Chapter
Tom Applies His Knife to the Oyster explained
Tom, feeling the humiliation of his family's reduced circumstances, resolves to seek employment from his uncle Deane.
What happens
Tom, feeling the humiliation of his family's reduced circumstances, resolves to seek employment from his uncle Deane. He walks to St. Ogg's in the cold December fog, determined to rise in the world through his own efforts. After a brief encounter with a publican, he meets with his uncle Deane, who advises him to start in a humble position and learn the practical side of business rather than seeking a clean, gentlemanly job. Tom is left with little immediate promise but a sense of direction. Meanwhile, Maggie struggles with her own feelings of resentment and longing for love and beauty in the midst of her family's troubles.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Respectability
Tom is acutely aware of the humiliation of poverty and is determined to regain respectability through business success, while Mr. Deane emphasizes the importance of practical experience over gentlemanly pretensions.
Family Obligation and Conflict
Tom feels a strong duty to provide for his mother and sister, yet struggles with resentment toward his father's imprudence. Maggie, in turn, feels alienated by the lack of tenderness from her family.
Pride and Fall
Tom's pride is wounded by his family's fall from prosperity, and he is determined to restore their standing, while Mr. Tulliver's pride in going to law led to their downfall.
Characters to notice
- Tom Tulliver
Tom is determined to find work and restore his family's fortunes, showing a proud and self-reliant nature. He feels indignation toward his father's imprudence but resolves to ask no one for help beyond fair pay for work.
- Maggie Tulliver
Maggie is overwhelmed by the harshness of the world, feeling that everyone is unkind and that life offers her nothing but poverty and grief. She longs for beauty, knowledge, and love, but finds only disappointment.
- Mr. Deane
Mr. Deane is a practical and successful businessman who advises Tom to start in a humble position and learn the realities of trade. He is cautious about recommending Tom for a place, emphasizing the need for proven ability.
- Mrs. Tulliver
Mrs. Tulliver appears briefly, entering the room as Maggie rushes away in tears, highlighting her role as a passive, grieving presence in the household.
- Mr. Tulliver
Mr. Tulliver is mentioned as lying ill in bed, a source of both pity and resentment for Tom and Maggie, and the cause of the family's downfall.
Key passages
“He would provide for his mother and sister, and make everyone say that he was a man of high character.”
Tom resolves to support his mother and sister financially and to earn a reputation as a man of integrity.
This shows Tom's sense of duty and ambition to restore the family's honor.
“There is no hopelessness so sad as that of early youth, when the soul is made up of wants, and has no long memories, no superadded life in the life of others.”
The despair of youth is especially poignant because young people have not yet accumulated the memories or connections to others that might soften their suffering.
This reflects Maggie's profound sense of isolation and longing.
“The world isn't made of pen, ink, and paper, and if you're to get on in the world, young man, you must know what the world's made of.”
Mr. Deane advises Tom that success requires practical, hands-on experience, not just book learning.
This highlights the Victorian value of practical knowledge over theoretical education.