Our Mutual Friend

“He was shy, and unwilling to own to the name of Reginald, as being too aspiring and self-assertive a name.”

Though ironic in tone, this description of Bella’s father’s discomfort with his legal name points to The Rigidity of Class and The Relationship Between Names and Identity. As a lower-middle-class person, he views himself as undeserving of an “aspiring” name like Reginald, which he further fears suggests he has ideas above his station.

“His name is Decline-and-Fall-Off-The-Rooshan-Empire.”

Newly rich, Boffin has ideas about what he should be doing with his time. As a working-class man, he never had time to read classic literature, but his new wealth has granted him this opportunity to educate himself (via Silas). His lack of knowledge, however, is revealed by his mistake in reading the title of the work. He mangles the title The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, showing his alienation from the kinds of cultural knowledge associated with his new social standing.

“We have come into a great fortune, and we must do what’s right by our fortune; we must act up to it.”

Mr. and Mrs. Boffin feel the need to modify their behavior to conform to how they believe wealthy people behave. This suggests the extent to which social class is a socially constructed performance. They feel the weight of expectation and respond to it rather than to a natural inclination as to how to act.

“The fault lies with the sufferers themselves.”

The upper-middle classes discuss the plight of the poor at a dinner table. Whereas the rest of the novel suggests that the poorest members of the society are often the most moral and hardworking, the upper classes need to assure themselves that they deserve their own status. They promulgate self-serving myths that the poor are at fault for their poverty. By extension, this implies that the middle and upper classes are responsible for their own success, which protects their egos.

“On the other hand, the Secretary was discerning, discreet, and silent, though as zealous as if the affairs had been his own.”

Since John Rokesmith is the true heir to the Harmon estate, the affairs he is handling are in fact “his own.” His success in the position of Boffin’s secretary is ironic, as his familiarity with the documents is due more to his familiarity with the family than to administrative skill. The novel plays on this dramatic irony, dropping hints to readers that Rokesmith is actually Harmon while denying this knowledge to the other characters.

“It’ll be a very hard thing, Liz, if, when I am trying my best to get up in the world, you pull me back.”

Charley is an aspirational young boy whose sister has encouraged him from a young age to pursue his education. Nevertheless, he blames his sister for hindering his rise in society. He more readily blames the working-class world he has left behind than the middle-class one that he is trying to enter, as doing the latter would mean admitting that the status he craves might be flawed in some way.

“Fledgeby flourished alone.”

Fledgeby comes from a wealthy family that has fallen on hard times. Through his moneylending business, however, he has made himself a success. The irony of this success is that he insists that he has “flourished alone,” whereas he has actually flourished by charging people high interest rates, exploiting the desperation of others. Fledgeby needs to self-mythologize, assuring himself that he is a self-made man rather than a social parasite.

“I’ll make a confession to you. I am the most mercenary little wretch that ever lived in the world.”

John watches Bella to assure himself that she is not greedy. At first, Bella is exactly as John fears, but over the course of the novel, she develops a self-awareness that begins as self-criticism. She comes to dislike her own “mercenary” nature, even if she is not completely ready to abandon her aspirations.

“Is there really such a place?”

When Betty is told that Johnny could be treated at a children’s hospital, she does not believe that such a place could really exist. This disbelief indicates the different worlds in which Victorian England’s rich and poor operate. Whereas the wealthy characters’ first instinct is to seek out a professional, Betty cannot conceive of any way in which she or her loved ones could receive such help.

“I mean of what name is it a corruption?”

Miss Peecher discusses Lizzie with her pupil. She is deeply jealous of Lizzie, who now dominates the affections of the man whom Miss Peecher loves. The teacher tries to justify her negative emotions by disparaging Lizzie’s name as a “corruption,” ascribing moral valence to a simple name.

“And was it not enough that I should have been willed away, like a horse, or a dog, or a bird […]?”

Bella’s growing self-awareness allows her to realize the extent to which the dead Harmon has manipulated her. Though he hardly knew her, he wrote a provision into his will that demanded that his son marry Bella to receive an inheritance. This has had a profound effect on Bella—one that she is only just beginning to comprehend. The will makes her feel like a commodity, pointing to The Tension Between Poverty and Dignity, and she resents being made a plaything of the wealthy.

“If I was young, it would all have to be gone through again, and the end would be a weary way off, don’t you see?”

Betty confesses to John that life has nothing to offer to her. She would not wish for a longer life, as doing so would only delay escaping the torment of her poverty. That Betty welcomes death demonstrates the extent to which poverty influences the characters’ perspectives on life. The middle-class characters struggle to comprehend the sheer extent of suffering that poverty brings about.

“The non-existent palatial residence of which so many people are madly envious.”

The Lammles lead double lives as part of their schemes. They launch an elaborate lie, pretending to be constantly searching for a house that they never quite buy. This leads their peers to imagine and envy the kind of house that the Lammles might own. The illusory nature of the house demonstrates the extent to which upper-middle-class existence is predicated on envy and deception.

“It is something so new to Pleasant to see her father an object of sympathy and interest.”

Pleasant Riderhood is shocked when people offer genuine sympathy to her injured father, but that sympathy ultimately only serves to remind Pleasant of her father’s nature. People dislike him so much that they can only be moved to sympathy by the prospect of his death.

“A man of property owes a duty to other men of property, and must look sharp after his inferiors.”

Boffin has entered into an elaborate ruse with John in which he pretends to abuse the man posing as his secretary. He hopes to teach Bella the corrupting nature of money, so he plays the role of a miserly man. Boffin’s statements in this passage serve as parodic imitations of the way rich people operate, oppressing and belittling their employees as a form of class solidarity.

“Not a penny had been added to the money sewn in her dress; what her honest spirit had so long projected was fulfilled.”

Betty’s funeral reveals the respect afforded to her by the other characters. She believed in the dignity of poverty and insisted on paying for her own funeral, even denying herself food and comfort to save money, so the other characters refuse to spend anything extra.

“We are to work together for our joint interest.”

The Lammles are locked in a loveless marriage that is driving them rapidly toward poverty. They have no love for or loyalty to one another, so they feel the need to constantly reiterate their allegiance out loud, affirming their commitment to their “joint interest” (a monetary phrasing) in a manner that would be unspoken and presupposed in a typical marriage.

“I don’t like secrecy.”

Boffin insists to Venus that he does not “like secrecy.” In a broad sense, Boffin has demonstrated a commitment to honesty and truth. At the same time, he spends the majority of the novel involved in a number of schemes and mistruths that depend on secrecy to function. He perpetuates the myth of John’s identity while also reversing the blackmail scheme against Silas. While Boffin may claim that he does not like secrecy, many of his actions are inherently and deliberately secretive.

“But it’s well known to water-side characters like myself, that him as has been brought out o’ drowning can never be drowned.”

Riderhood insists that his near-death experience will protect him from drowning. This piece of local superstition is an example of both foreshadowing and characterization; his death by drowning is seemingly inevitable at this point because Riderhood is almost always wrong. His death becomes a product of his own foolishness and arrogance.

“Willing won’t do, Boffin. I won’t take willing.”

Silas does not want to simply get what he desires. Boffin may be willing to oblige him, but Silas needs to feel the emotional humiliation of the blackmail scheme. Silas is a poor man who has seized on to the scheme as a chance to take power, which he craves more than the money. Since Silas has felt humiliated his entire life, he expects his sudden empowerment to involve the humiliation of others.

“I want to be something so much worthier than the doll in the doll’s house.”

Bella asserts her maturity by telling John that she no longer wants to play games. Previously, when living her lavish lifestyle in the Boffin house, she felt like a doll—a plaything in other people’s games. Further, she is no longer a young girl who needs a doll’s house; she is now a woman who has a husband and child of her own. This status makes her feel “worthier” than any money could.

“A child is a child, you know.”

Jenny’s father’s alcohol addiction forced her to grow up fast while reducing her father to a childlike status. However, even though he was a grown man and responsible for much of her suffering, she cannot bring herself to hate her father, seeing him as a child to be pitied.

“I can’t afford to be rich yet.”

When John was pretending to be Rokesmith, he explained his desire to keep his identity secret by distinguishing between different kinds of wealth. He cannot “afford” to be rich before he knows that Bella is the kind of woman he needs her to be; her love is truly valuable, so he cannot reveal his material wealth and potentially let her love slip away.