# Mr. Durdles and Friend explained — The Mystery of Edwin Drood

> Chapter companion for The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.

## What happens

John Jasper encounters Durdles being pelted with stones by a ragged boy named Deputy, who is paid by Durdles to pelt him home. Jasper walks Durdles home, learning about his work among the tombs and his method of finding buried bodies by tapping the ground. Durdles reveals a discovery of an old 'un under the seventh pillar in the crypt. Jasper expresses a romantic interest in Durdles's life and asks to accompany him. They part at the Travellers' Twopenny, and Jasper returns home, where he prepares a peculiar pipe and stands over his sleeping nephew Edwin before retiring to his own room to smoke.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mystery and the Unknown

Jasper's fascination with Durdles's ability to find buried bodies and his request to explore the crypt's odd nooks introduces an air of mystery and hidden knowledge.

### Class and Social Hierarchy

The interaction between Jasper, Durdles, and Deputy highlights the social strata of Cloisterham, from the choirmaster to the stone-mason to the ragged boy.

## Character check-ins

### John Jasper

Intervenes in Deputy's stone-throwing, walks Durdles home, expresses interest in Durdles's work, and later stands over his sleeping nephew with a pipe.

### Durdles

The stony one, meditating among his works, explains his arrangement with Deputy and demonstrates his method of finding buried bodies.

### Deputy

A ragged boy who pelts Durdles with stones for a halfpenny, chanting a warning rhyme.

### Edwin Drood

Mentioned as Jasper's nephew, asleep and untroubled as Jasper stands over him.

## Key lines

> Making a cock-shy of him, replies the hideous small boy.

The boy says he is using Durdles as a target for his stone-throwing game.

_Deputy explains his actions to Jasper._

> I took him in hand and gave him an object. What was he before? A destroyer.

Durdles claims he reformed Deputy by giving him a purpose in life, which was previously only destructive.

_Durdles justifies his unusual arrangement with Deputy._

> I tap, tap, tap. Solid! I go on tapping. Solid still! Tap again. Holloa! Hollow! Tap again, persevering. Solid in hollow!

Durdles describes his method of tapping the ground to detect hollow spaces, indicating a burial vault.

_Durdles demonstrates his skill to Jasper._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mystery_of_edwin_drood_se/chapters/v-mr-durdles-and-friend
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mystery_of_edwin_drood_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_mystery_of_edwin_drood_se/chapters