80
makes rather an indifferent parent' (Ch 6, 122).
We see that the unsuccesful parenthood that we found to be so prominent
in the book returns in structures larger than the family, even including
the universe. Irresponsibility is rife. One way to improve things was
found on a small scale by individuals who acted responsible where others
failed. Society is saved by these people. And their actions, just like
the irresponsible parenthood, are raised to a higher level in the book.
This is done through frequent reference to the Father in Heaven. He
does not forget Esther (Ch 3, 74); Esther whispers to Jenny 'what our
Saviour said of children' (Ch 8, 160)and Esther more than once
prays to her 'Father in Heaven' (e.g. Ch 31, 495). Doing our duty day
by day, with His help, is the one way out of the fog that envelops the
society of BLEAK HOUSE. As John Jarndyce says to Richard: 'Trust in
nothing but in Providence and your own efforts' (Ch 13, 232). We can
only act responsibly when we go hand in hand with our Heavenly Father
Who is ultimately responsible.
In this analysis of the parent-child relations in the novel and the
responsibility theme unfolding in them we get a clear picture of
Dickens' narrative method. We can compare it, I think, to the way in
which a child learns the meaning of words. It can do this by just
simply asking someone for the meaning; but in most cases it will learn
what a word means by coming it across many many times in many varied
contexts. In the end it will know how and when to use it. This is just
the way in which Dickens tells us about the things he wants us to know.
He does not tell us straightforwardly what responsibility is like and
what its lack results in. He shows us responsibility and the lack of
it in an innumerable number of cases, in many forms and in a variety
of situations; and in the end we know all about it. And just as the
child gets to know the language it speaksse we get to know the world
we live in.
NOTES
1. Eleanor Rooke isolates 'Fathers and Sons in Dickens' (in Essays
and Studies 1951, p 53-69) from this wider theme and concludes
(p 69), not entirely convincingly, that 'his various attempts' at
treating the Father and Son motive 'with anything approaching the
