The Pickwick Papers · Chapter
A Field Day and Bivouac—More New Friends—An Invitation to the Country explained
The Pickwickians attend a grand military review near Rochester, enduring the jostling crowd and a chaotic charge that leaves them disheveled.
What happens
The Pickwickians attend a grand military review near Rochester, enduring the jostling crowd and a chaotic charge that leaves them disheveled. After the maneuvers, Mr. Pickwick is invited by a stout old gentleman to visit Manor Farm at Dingley Dell, and the chapter ends with the party departing as the fat boy falls asleep.
Themes in this chapter
Adventure and Exploration
The Pickwickians' outing to the military review is a light-hearted adventure, culminating in a chaotic charge and the invitation to Dingley Dell.
Social Class and Manners
The crowd's behavior, the officers' commands, and the genteel invitation to the country highlight class distinctions and social etiquette.
Characters to notice
- Samuel Pickwick
Leads the group to the review, chases his hat after being knocked down, and accepts the invitation to Dingley Dell.
- Augustus Snodgrass
Squeezed in the crowd and performs a somersault during the charge; his notebook is credited as the source for the chapter.
- Nathaniel Winkle
Has his hat knocked over his eyes in the crowd and suffers a bloody nose after the collision.
- Tracy Tupman
Disappears during the review and is later found in a barouche with the old gentleman and his party.
- Mr. Wardle
The stout old gentleman in blue coat and top-boots who invites the Pickwickians to Dingley Dell.
- Emily Wardle
One of the young ladies in the barouche with scarfs and feathers.
- Isabella Wardle
The other young lady in the barouche, presumably the one the young gentleman is enamored of.
- Rachael Wardle
The lady of doubtful age, probably the aunt, seated in the barouche.
Key passages
“Many authors entertain, not only a foolish, but a really dishonest objection to acknowledge the sources whence they derive much valuable information.”
Many writers foolishly and dishonestly refuse to credit their sources.
The narrator defends his practice of crediting Snodgrass's notebook.
“Man is but mortal; and there is a point beyond which human courage cannot extend.”
Human courage has its limits.
Narrator's comment as Mr. Pickwick retreats from the charging soldiers.
“There are very few moments in a man's existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat.”
Few situations are as comically distressing and unsympathetically viewed as chasing a runaway hat.
Reflection on Mr. Pickwick's hat-chasing ordeal.