The Way We Live Now · Chapter
Hamilton K. Fisker Again explained
Ten days after Melmotte's death, Paul Montague meets his partner Hamilton K.
What happens
Ten days after Melmotte's death, Paul Montague meets his partner Hamilton K. Fisker in Liverpool. Fisker dismisses Melmotte's ruin as clumsy and plans to buy up the depressed shares of the South Central Pacific and Mexican Railway, intending to revive the venture in San Francisco. Paul refuses to return to America, and the partnership dissolves. Fisker then goes to London, where he takes charge of Melmotte's affairs, summons the Grendalls, and visits the widow and daughter at Hampstead. He discovers that Marie Melmotte still possesses a large fortune, and both she and her mother find comfort in his attentions, with Fisker hinting at a future in California.
Themes in this chapter
Speculation and Ruin
Fisker's plan to buy up depressed shares after Melmotte's suicide exemplifies the ruthless opportunism of speculative finance.
Deception and Hypocrisy
Fisker openly admires unscrupulousness and views false representations as a legitimate path to wealth, contrasting with his own insistence on keeping promises.
Marriage as Financial Transaction
Fisker's interest in Marie Melmotte is clearly tied to her fortune, and he hints at a future union in California.
Characters to notice
- Paul Montague
Meets Fisker in Liverpool, refuses to continue with the railway scheme, and is unaware that Hetta's letter to him has gone missing.
- Hamilton K. Fisker
Arrives from San Francisco, dismisses Melmotte's failure as clumsy, plans to buy up railway shares, and visits Madame Melmotte and Marie at Hampstead.
- Marie Melmotte
Still in possession of her fortune, finds consolation in Fisker's visits, and discusses managing her money in California.
- Madame Melmotte
Numbed by Melmotte's death, she welcomes Fisker's company and the brandy-and-water he mixes for her.
- Miles Grendall
Summoned to London by Fisker, he obeys his father's advice to appear but say nothing.
- Lord Alfred Grendall
Proudly ignores Fisker's summons but advises his son to go to London.
Key passages
“According to his theory of life, nine hundred and ninety-nine men were obscure because of their scruples, whilst the thousandth man predominated and cropped up into the splendour of commercial wealth because he was free from such bondage.”
Fisker believes that nearly all men fail due to their moral qualms, while the one who succeeds does so by being unburdened by conscience.
This encapsulates Fisker's ruthless philosophy of business.
“The work of robbing mankind in gross by magnificently false representations, was not only the duty, but also the delight and the ambition of his life.”
Fisker sees grand-scale deception as both his obligation and his greatest pleasure.
Highlights the theme of deception and hypocrisy.
“Bu'st up! I'm sorry for him because I thought him a biggish man;—but what he's done'll just be the making of us over there.”
Fisker regrets Melmotte's death only because he had expected more from him, but sees the collapse as an opportunity for profit in San Francisco.
Illustrates Fisker's cold, opportunistic view of Melmotte's ruin.