# II: Bastin and Bickley explained — When the World Shook

> Chapter companion for When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard.

## What happens

The narrator introduces his two closest friends, Bastin and Bickley, who are polar opposites in temperament and belief. Bastin is a simple, good-hearted clergyman with a literal faith, while Bickley is a skeptical surgeon who believes only in the material world. The narrator describes how he brought both to Fulcombe—Bastin as vicar and Bickley as a surgeon—and how their constant debates entertain him. He also touches on his own restlessness and search for purpose, rejecting their suggestions for his future.

## Themes in this chapter

### Clash of Beliefs

The chapter centers on the fundamental opposition between Bastin's unquestioning faith and Bickley's materialist skepticism, with Arbuthnot caught in between.

### The Search for Meaning

Arbuthnot's restlessness and search for purpose, rejecting his friends' suggestions, underscores a personal quest for fulfillment beyond wealth and debate.

## Character check-ins

### Humphrey Arbuthnot

The narrator reflects on his two friends, their contrasting natures, and his own dissatisfaction with idle wealth.

### Mr. Bastin

Described as simple, good, and utterly literal in faith; he becomes vicar of Fulcombe and engages in theological debates with Bickley.

### J. R. Bickley

A skeptical surgeon who believes only in material explanations; he moves to Fulcombe at Arbuthnot's invitation and argues with Bastin.

### Sarah

Bastin's wife, described as vinegary and jealous; the narrator plays tricks on her by encouraging women to flirt with Bastin.

## Key lines

> Metaphorically speaking, heavenly manna and decayed cabbage were just the same to Bastin.

Bastin accepted all ideas, whether profound or trivial, without discrimination.

_Illustrates Bastin's uncritical and simple-minded nature._

> He was convinced, for instance, that man is a brute-descended accident and no more, that what we call the soul or the mind is produced by a certain action of the grey matter of the brain; that everything apparently inexplicable has a perfectly mundane explanation, if only one could find it; that miracles certainly never did happen, and never will; that all religions are the fruit of human hopes and fears and the most convincing proof of human weakness; that notwithstanding our infinite variations we are the subjects of Nature's single law and the victims of blind, black and brutal chance.

Bickley believed humans are accidental products of evolution, the mind is purely physical, miracles are impossible, and religion is a human invention born of fear.

_Summarizes Bickley's materialist worldview, contrasting with Bastin's faith._

> It really is sad, my dear Bickley, to find a man of your intellect so utterly wrongheaded and misguided. I have convicted you of error at least half a dozen times, and not to confess it is mere pigheadedness.

Bastin tells Bickley he is stubbornly wrong, despite being intellectually capable.

_Shows the typical end of their debates, with Bastin's unshakable certainty._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters/ii-bastin-and-bickley
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/when_the_world_shook_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/when_the_world_shook_se/chapters