In The End It Doesn't Even Matter /// Elijah Mahn

     The entire case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce came to nothing. It was a net-zero case that exhausted all that it had to give. All it brought was sadness, suffering, death, and worst of all... Fog. (I couldn't resist.) The effects of the case caused the deaths of several people, the self-destruction of Richard, and allowed people like Mr. Tulkinghorn and Mr. Skimpole to thrive as parasites. It also caused untold confusion for no reason whatsoever in the end, and left Richard II fatherless. Why Ada named her child after his father, I will never understand. Does she want him to follow in his father's footsteps? 

    The case also was completely pointless, because it was about the wrong will. When that proper will is discovered, the previous will is no longer valid, and therefore everything in the case prior is irrelevant. At the end of it all, the case is finally resolved. No one really gains anything from the case, except for the friends they made along the way. (As well as the murders, drama, despair, and other deaths.) 

    But honestly, I think we're all just glad that the fog is gone...  And the wind, rain, sleet, snow, and even sunshine metaphors, which Charles Dickens somehow managed to make foreboding, irritating, and depressing. And also THE CASE DIDN'T MATTER, except in how it indirectly affected everyone's actions. The entire thing was nothing but a convenient plot device.

PS: I commented on Breanna Poole and Raygan Boster's posts.

Comments

  1. Bug OlsenNovember 15, 2021 at 10:59 PM

    I think that the court case was going to come to nothing to begin with, so having this extra piece of evidence really just spread the process along. I did like how Ada named her child Richard, as I think she had Richard's more admirable qualities in mind when she named him. Ada remained in love with Richard throughout the story, from his start as a fun-loving youngster even throughout his downfall and tragedy of the case. The relationship between husbands and wives throughout this story become very interesting and twisted, and I think that this was one example of a faithful wife, even to a slowly dying husband.

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  2. Abigale BellNovember 15, 2021 at 11:01 PM

    To me, the fact that the case came to nothing was Dickens' way of describing a broken society. It could be compared to the debtor's prison where one had to work their way out of debt, but, with no way to do so, became stuck. In the same way, those who were involved with the Jarndyce case could think of nothing but the conclusion of the case, yet it had gone on for so long that there was no way to truly end it. When it finally came to an end, there was nothing to be gained.

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