Montreal Dickens Fellowship Study Questions: “Martin Chuzzlewit”
Westmount Public Library
April 3, 2018 1:00-3:00
Chapters 41 - 50
- What do you think of Dickens’s ability to create suspense as he shows us the desperate, murderous side of Jonas?
- Comment on Dickens’s use of melodrama. How does the terrible storm, Bailey’s near-death, the ghoulish dream and Montague Tigg’s locked door add to the mystery and suspense of the novel and keep us wanting to read more?
- What was the knocking that Jonas heard at the coach door? Was it an omen of things to come? (like Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”)
- What do you think of Dickens’s ability to portray romance as evidenced in the growing relationship between Ruth Pinch and John Westlock?
- Discuss the reunion between Tom Pinch, John Westlock and Martin and Mark. Do you believe in the reformation in Martin’s character after his American experience?
- What do you think of Mark’s decision to marry Mrs. Lupin?
- Comment on the interweaving of all the characters as they try to solve the mystery of Anthony Chuzzlewit’s death.
- Do you think that Martin and his grandfather can be reconciled?
- Do you think Mrs. Harris is a real person? Why? Why not?
- Did you suspect that old Martin Chuzzlewit was Tom Pinch’s boss or that his feebleness was an act? Comment on Dickens’s ability to surprise the reader.