# XXI explained — The Old Curiosity Shop

> Chapter companion for The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.

## What happens

Kit returns home to find the Garlands visiting his mother, offering him a position as their servant at six pounds a year. After they leave, Quilp and Richard Swiveller arrive, questioning Kit about the whereabouts of his former master and Nell. Quilp, suspicious of Swiveller's motives, coaxes him into a drinking outing.

## Themes in this chapter

### Class and Social Hierarchy

Kit's hiring by the Garlands highlights the class divide and the economic dependence of the poor on the benevolence of the middle class.

### Family and Community

The Nubbles family's close-knit dynamic and the Garlands' careful vetting process reflect the importance of family reputation and community trust.

### Greed and Exploitation

Quilp's manipulative questioning and his attempt to exploit Swiveller's disappointment for his own mischievous ends exemplify greed and exploitation.

## Character check-ins

### Christopher Nubbles

Kit is hired by the Garlands at six pounds a year, and later confronted by Quilp and Swiveller about his old master and Nell.

### Abel Garland

Mr. Abel Garland accompanies his parents to Kit's home and nods to Kit upon his arrival.

### Daniel Quilp

Quilp arrives at Kit's home with Swiveller, interrogates Kit and his mother about the fugitives, and later persuades Swiveller to join him for drinks.

### Richard Swiveller

Swiveller accompanies Quilp to Kit's home, expressing disappointment over a failed speculation, and is lured by Quilp to a riverside tavern.

### Mrs. Nubbles

Kit's mother provides a detailed account of Kit's life to the Garlands and is alarmed by Quilp's sudden appearance.

### Jacob

Little Jacob is frightened into silence by Quilp's threats.

## Key lines

> Kit turned away and very soon forgot the pony, and the chaise, and the little old lady, and the little old gentleman, and the little young gentleman to boot, in thinking what could have become of his late master and his lovely grandchild, who were the fountainhead of all his meditations.

Kit quickly forgot about the pony and the Garland family as he became absorbed in worrying about the fate of his former master and Nell.

_This shows Kit's deep concern for Nell and her grandfather, central to his thoughts._

> Six pound a year! Only think!

Kit and his mother are overjoyed at the prospect of his annual wage of six pounds.

_Highlights the economic significance of this sum for a poor family._

> Who said he was to have six pound a year? Did the old man say it, or did little Nell say it? And what's he to have it for, and where are they, eh?

Quilp aggressively interrogates Kit and his mother about the source of the wage offer and the whereabouts of Nell and her grandfather.

_Quilp's suspicious and intrusive nature is evident as he seeks information about the fugitives._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_old_curiosity_shop_se/chapters/xxi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_old_curiosity_shop_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_old_curiosity_shop_se/chapters