Africa Over Orphans /// Bug Olsen

 

            Throughout the novel, multiple characters care more about their outward appearance of actions rather than the morals behind them. Two specific characters that come to mind are Mrs. Jellyby and Mrs. Pardiggle, both of whom are obsessed with appearing outwardly religious and showing that they apparently care about the people around them. However, they obviously do not truly care about the problems that they campaign for and are instead more concerned about appearing moral and religious.

            Mrs. Jellyby is the best example of this, as she completely ignores her children to focus on Africa. Pages 38-39 in chapter 4 are filled with references to this emphasis on Africa, with Mrs. Jellyby ignoring Peepy and the rest of the children to continually focus on helping the poor Africans rather than those who are right in front of her. These children are continually neglected for things unseen rather than the tangible ones right in front of her, and their resentment builds up. Her daughter best summarizes this in her exclamation, “I wish Africa was dead!” in line 32 of page 43. Mrs. Jellyby’s continual preoccupation with Africa and wanting to be appear religious to her peers by extension, has extreme negative effects on her personal life and on those surrounding her. While her desire to help Africans is noble, she cannot spend all her focus and energy on this while neglecting those around her.

            I believe this section was heavily influenced by Dickens’s upbringing, as he felt neglected and ignored while being forced to work in a factory at the age of 12. This section plays into the themes of children being overlooked in a world run by adults, and who are adversely affected due to their parents and other adults’ poor decisions. This was also seen in Esther’s upbringing, as she constantly feels like everything is her fault due to her highly righteous yet uncaring godmother. This is an area of high interest today, as many studies have been conducted on the effects of parents on their children and the consequences of neglect at a young age. Dickens uses this theme of abandoned children constantly throughout his novels, and coupled with an outward appearance of morality, these sections establish a solid foundation for multiple themes throughout the rest of the novel. 

I will comment on Samantha Tedder's and Emory Cooper's posts. 

Comments

  1. Justin JOctober 25, 2021 at 11:50 PM

    This is definitely a common theme in the novel, nice catch. The first thing that came to my mind was Miss Barbary. She was so focused on her own religious duties that she often neglected Esther in her upbringing

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  2. Samantha TOctober 25, 2021 at 11:55 PM

    I also noticed this detail. I think it supports Dickens' statement at the end of his introduction to the book well. He says to have purposefully dwelled on the romantic side of common things. Here we see people romanticizing themselves because of all the "good" they do, whilst ignoring things that really matter, and would do more immediate good.

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  3. Emory CooperOctober 26, 2021 at 3:33 AM

    I thought about addressing this incident in my own blog post, but I decided not to; I'm glad you addressed it, though. Mrs. Jellyby reminds me of Romans chapter 10, verse 2, where Paul states that his brethren of Israel "have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge." This lady may have had her eyes set on great achievements, but she was willingly ignorant of the vocation to which God had already called her: to be one of the "keepers at home" prescribed in Titus 2:5. May God grant me, and all of us, the grace to perform that to which we have been called.

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  4. Emily ThullesenOctober 26, 2021 at 6:46 PM

    Great post! I noticed that this sort of topic has been a recurring one in Bleak House so far, in that the characters are so focused on appearance rather than reality. The question is, though, is if they are truly blind to the real problems or if they are ignoring them out of selfishness.

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