63 pages • 2 hours read
Charles DickensBarnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1841A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Grip
Content Warning: This section discusses addiction to alcohol.
Barnaby’s intelligent raven, Grip, is not only an extension of Barnaby but also a symbol for sincerity and truth within the novel. Many characters describe Grip as the smartest person in the room, yet others are either entertained or unnerved by his loquaciousness. Like Barnaby, who is known to pay attention to things he pretends not to notice or listen to conversations while he fakes sleeping, Grip is hypervigilant and always aware of what is going on in a room, even when Barnaby is unaware, such as when Barnaby Rudge Sr. hides in Mary’s closet. In this way, Grip seems to be able to judge the true character of everyone immediately. Just as he only performs for those he deems worthwhile, he stays away from people he knows will cause him trouble.
Like Barnaby and his “silly” musings, much of what Grip says appears to be nonsense, but has symbolic meaning upon closer inspection. His repeating phrases of “never say die” and “I’m a devil” ring especially true when Barnaby is defending himself against the militia during the riots, or when he comes across wicked characters like Gashford and the country justice. Grip is tempered by his experience in prison and learns the truth of Barnaby’s involvement in the riots along with Barnaby. In this way, Grip is always reflecting the difficult truths of any situation and mirroring the complexity of emotions tangled up in Barnaby’s struggles.
The Maypole
The Maypole Inn is a way station for most people and information within the novel and also a symbol of the ways characters and stories are intertwined with one another. Just as the separate ribbons of a maypole are braided together, the characters of Barnaby Rudge—who are all from different classes, locations, and social circles—all come together either physically at the Maypole or through their connections to the people who go there. The Maypole thus embodies how any small action from one character can create a ripple effect and affect the others.
The Maypole is also a place where time seems to repeat itself and where stories from the past are brought into the present, reflecting The Inescapability of the Past. The repetition of the story of Rueben Haredale’s murder is just one way that the past is repeated at the inn, and when the narrative jumps forward five years in Chapter 33, it is as if Chapter 1 is repeating. Barnaby travels freely between London and Chigwell and the Maypole is where Gabriel comes to get comfort and the stranger to get information. Though it is destroyed in the riots, a new Maypole Inn is quickly built by Joe and Dolly and another Maypole is placed by Old John’s new cottage, reflecting how communal ties have endured and strengthened in the aftermath of the riots.
Alcohol
Whether at the bar of the Maypole or in the streets of the riots, alcohol is highly symbolic of how corrupting power can be, forming an important motif in the novel. Though Dickens was not a supporter of contemporary temperance movements popular during his time, he advocated for drinking in moderation and many of his cruelest or least serious characters are frequent consumers of alcohol.
In Barnaby Rudge, Hugh in particular has an alcohol addiction and Chester uses his addiction against him, plying him with liquor when he needs information but withholding it from him when he needs Hugh to submit to him. Just as Hugh is always trying to get drunk on alcohol to numb his pain, he also becomes drunk on power and is further corrupted by it once the riots begin. One of the most important images of Barnaby Rudge occurs after the burning of the vintner’s house, when his stores of wine and liquor pour out and puddle in the streets and Barnaby sees many rioters who have died by alcohol overdose or are trying to drink the liquid that has caught fire. This comparison in particular shows the connection Dickens tries to make between the addictiveness of both alcohol and power, as the rioters are too intoxicated from their intolerance to soberly see the consequences of their actions.
Related Titles
By Charles Dickens
