Bleak House Update #4: Parts 16 - 20 and Final Thoughts

“What we shall find reasonable in Jarndyce and Jarndyce! Unreason and injustice at the top, unreason and injustice at the heart and at the bottom, unreason and injustice from beginning to end - if ever it has an end.”

It’s going to be a bit tricky summarizing the last quarter of Bleak House because here are some massive spoilers in the section, as one would expect at the end of a novel. Dickens spends Parts 16 through 20 tying up all the loose ends. There’s some more Richard & Ada drama, someone is in custody for murder but did they snag the right person, there’s some Sir & Lady Dedlock drama, and there’s definitely some Esther romance drama. #drama. 

I like how Dickens really focuses on the concept of forgiveness and redemption in this section of the novel, which is an overarching theme for him in the majority of his works. My boy Chuck just can’t say no to characters who are recompensed, have a Come to Jesus moment, and see the error of their ways. I’m here for it. 

“… he can yet pronounce her name with something like distinctness in the midst of those intrusive sounds, and in a tone of mourning and compassion rather than reproach.” 

Throughout the novel, Dickens criticizes people who do charitable acts for those in other counties, brag above them and then turn a blind eye to those who are in need within their own communities. Dickens sets up Mr. Jarndyce as the exact opposite. His quiet, charitable acts are dispersed throughout the novel and really come to a head at the end. He’s a benevolent man who does not like to receive recognition for his good deeds. He sees something that can be done to benefit the people around him and silently goes about to make it happen. He also admires this in other people; people who don’t seek wealth or status for the sake of making themselves appear to be benevolent or for recognition. 

“… a man whose hopes and aims may sometimes lie (as most men’s sometimes do, I dare say) above the ordinary level, but to whom the ordinary level will be high enough after all, if it should prove to be a way of usefulness and good service leading to no other. All generous spirits are ambitious I suppose; but the ambition that calmly trusts itself to such a road, instead of spasmodically trying to fly over it, is of the kind I care for.”

How relevant is that for today, with people being able to highlight themselves in any way they can on social media? With the click off a button, people can showcase their own good deeds for the world to see and receive instant gratification for having done something good, while simultaneously shaping the narrative of their character. One can go on a massive tangent about this, but I’m a big fan of not letting the right hand know what the left is doing. You can do something for the sake of knowing its the right thing to do, without broadcasting it. One must always check one’s motives…

One thing I asked myself throughout the novel, and more so as the novel came to an end is, 

“What was the point of Dickens using the case Jarndyce and Jarndyce as a backdrop for this whole novel?” After thinking about this for some time, this is what I came up with: I think Dickens is showing how easily it is for people to become consumed by and obsessed with things, especially when we think that thing pertains to us. For example, Richard hopes that the case will turn out a certain way so that he can reap the financial benefits. However, he allows this court case to take over his life. One can get so involved, that one begins to out on blinders and completely block out the life that is happening around oneself. What is the point, when one ends up missing out on what’s truly important?

So there we have it - Bleak House. This is such an engaging novel with a slew of interesting characters. For a 1000+ page novel, and compared to some of Dickens’ other novels, I found Bleak House to be approachable and fairly easy to navigate. The subplots did not bog me down and get confusing. I really enjoyed Esther as the central character - she’s funny, witty, smart, devoted and pragmatic. She deserves to be compared to Jane Eyre and Marion in The Woman in White. I think the three of them would make a fearsome trio to behold. I also think that Bleak House is a good novel for people to read who want to dive into Dickens’ novels, but don’t know where to begin. This is my fourth Dickens and I actually got a better understanding on how he constructs his novels with Bleak House. His works were serialized and it’s very evident with Bleak House; each chapter starts off a bit like a new episode. He likes to set the scene and then dive into what’s happening. Also, Dickens tends to have fairly static characters, which I don’t mind with his writing, because there are so many and they tend to represent caricatures within human nature. There is some character development in a couple characters, but it’s deliberately done. And lastly, the writing, as one would expect, is stunning. I say it over and over, but my Boy Chuck and turn a phrase. 

“There are powdered heads from time to time in the little windows of the hall, looking out at the untaxed powder falling all day from the sky; and, in the same conservatory, there is peach blossom turning itself exotically to the great hall fire from the nipping weather out of doors.”

I mean….. how luuuuush is that!? Oomph. It’s good stuff. 

The more I read Dickens, the more I fall in love with him as an author, and dare I say he’s becoming a favorite? Bleak House was such a pleasure to read and this is a novel that will stick with me. I look forward to reading all of his novels and I have a fair amount of them unread on my shelves. I’m more and more eager to cozy up with them. 

Rating: 4.5/5 

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