The Way of All Flesh · Chapter
LXX explained
Ernest is released from prison and stays briefly with Overton.
What happens
Ernest is released from prison and stays briefly with Overton. He refuses to reconcile with his parents, who visit Overton's home looking for him. Ernest seeks employment as a tailor but faces repeated rejections. Overton consults his own tailor, Mr. Larkins, who explains the impracticality of Ernest's plan. Ernest eventually finds a room and begins his search for work, buoyed by a newfound appreciation for freedom and simple pleasures.
Themes in this chapter
Self-Discovery and Authenticity
Ernest's rejection of his parents' expectations and his determination to pursue tailoring as a trade, despite societal and practical obstacles, reflects his quest for an authentic life.
Money and Social Class
The difficulty Ernest faces in crossing class boundaries to work as a tailor highlights the rigid social and economic structures of Victorian society.
Characters to notice
- Ernest Pontifex
Released from prison, stays with Overton, refuses to see his parents, seeks work as a tailor, and enjoys his newfound liberty.
- Mr. Overton
Hosts Ernest after his release, consults his tailor Mr. Larkins about Ernest's employment prospects, and supports Ernest's independence.
- Theobald Pontifex
Visits Overton's home with Christina to confront Ernest but is turned away.
- Christina Pontifex
Accompanies Theobald to Overton's home, crying bitterly during the confrontation.
- Mr. Larkins
Overton's tailor, advises that Ernest's plan to work in a tailor's workshop is impractical due to age and class differences.
- Pryer
Mentioned as having given Ernest ten pounds shortly before his arrest.
Key passages
“Sell, said the master of the shop, Why nobody wouldn't believe what can be sold by penn'orths and twopenn'orths if you go the right way to work. Look at whelks, for instance. Last Saturday night me and my little Emma here, we sold £7 worth of whelks between eight and half past eleven o'clock—and almost all in penn'orths and twopenn'orths—a few, hap'orths, but not many. It was the steam that did it.”
A fishmonger explains that selling small quantities of whelks can be surprisingly profitable if done correctly, and that the steam rising from the boiling whelks attracted customers.
Ernest hears this story while inquiring about trade, reinforcing his determination to become a tailor.
“If, said Mr. Larkins, for this was my tailor's name, he had begun at fourteen, it might have done, but no man of twenty-four could stand being turned to work into a workshop full of tailors; he would not get on with the men, nor the men with him; you could not expect him to be 'hail fellow, well met' with them, and you could not expect his fellow-workmen to like him if he was not.”
Overton's tailor Mr. Larkins argues that a gentleman of twenty-four cannot integrate into a tailor's workshop because of class differences and the men's resentment.
This advice discourages Overton from supporting Ernest's plan to work in a tailor's shop.