Pg. 48- The old man\u2019s weak eyes sparkled as George declared this determination. \u201cMy poor boy, I think you\u2019re right,\u201d he said, \u201cI really think you\u2019re right. The change, the wildlife, the-the-\u201d He hesitated and broke down, as Robert looked earnestly at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re in a great hurry to get rid of your son-in-law, I think, Mr. Maldon,\u201d he said gravely.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet rid of him, dear boy! Oh no, no! But for his own sake, my dear sir, for his own sake, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
This exchange reveals a great deal about the characters, plot, and of foreshadowing. In the preceding passage, a despairing George reveals his intention to return to Australia. Immediately after this, Maldon\u2019s spirit is lifted and he gifts the audience this gem. Maldon repeats the phrase, \u201cI think you\u2019re right\u201d (pg. 48). After a physical reaction to George\u2019s declaration, Mary Elizabeth Braddon is drawing attention through repetition to Maldon\u2019s vocal reaction. Maldon wants George gone as soon as possible and thus warrants our suspicion. Other iterations of repetition are exhibited in Maldon\u2019s stuttering, \u201cthe, the\u201d and \u201chis own sake,\u201d (48). It seems as if in his excitement at Geroge\u2019s expressed departure, Maldon is stumbling over his words and garnering more suspicion.<\/p>\n
In terms of binary oppositions I have already discussed the contrast of Maldon\u2019s disposition in the preceding passage to this one (\u201ceyes sparkling,\u201d pg. 48). Aside from this, Robert and Maldon become foils for each other. Robert, like the audience, finds suspicion in Maldon\u2019s reaction and openly questions it when he could have just as well kept it to himself. Moreover, this opposition creates an opportunity for Braddon to identify proto-detective\/ surrogate for the audience. To this point, Robert has merely been a supportive friend and embodiment of lethargy. After this passage he becomes a sort of detective by pointing out the oddity of Maldon\u2019s behavior and earning the audience\u2019s empathy in doing so.<\/p>\n
In terms of a larger picture, this passage casts a sinister shadow on Maldon. He could very well be simply resentful of George, but his excitement at George\u2019s intended departure indicates that he is in on something we do not know anything about. Could another character \u201cdisappear\u201d to Australia? Most of all, it expounds on the mystery surround the novel and its events.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pg. 48- The old man\u2019s weak eyes sparkled as George declared this determination. \u201cMy poor boy, I think you\u2019re right,\u201d he said, \u201cI really think you\u2019re right. The change, the wildlife, the-the-\u201d He hesitated and broke down, as Robert looked earnestly at him. \u201cYou\u2019re in a great hurry to get rid of your son-in-law, I … Continue reading Capt. Maldon is Kind of Weird<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2976,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123782],"tags":[123792,123783],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-blog-post","tag-capt-maldon","tag-lady-audleys-secret"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/secretlives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}