Thinking about Dickens

I am enjoying Nicholas Nickleby enormously and it suddenly occurs to me to realize why (belatedly. Duh, Peg) The theme of the heart of flesh/heart of stone is EXACTLY what Dickens is all about.

"But you were always a good man of business, Jacob," faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"

(See here)

and

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

I must consider what Dickens thought led to the heart of stone. Certainly the pursuit of money could lead to a hardness of heart, but having money wasn't a necessary condition. There were the benevolent rich (Fezziwig, Scrooge after reformation) and there were those who were poor, even those who weren't scrabbling for money (like the Squeers) who were still venal (Bill Sykes, etc.)

How does this apply to a fantasy novel? One thing Pat Wrede told me to think about was, why fantasy? (She also warned me to consider why isn't magic available to everyone.) Why does my story about an ice palace have to include magic? Why can't the story of Solveig, Jack, Ingrid, Agnes and Mr. X be a mainstream novel, a Dickens novel, if you will? Well, if Mr. X is after SOMETHING that requires magic, which turns his heart to stone, what would that be? Is magic a better way to acquire money? Why isn't he satisfied with just acquiring it on the stock market? (Which some people regard as magic, after all, although not lately). Does he need magic because his goal is immortality, or at least long life? I don't have an answer for this yet, and this stuckedness, I think, is part of the reason I'm hesitating. I'm learning a lot about Mr. X, however, by reading about Ralph Nickleby and the Squeers. And I think I'm reading about Solveig and Jack by reading about Nicholas and Kate.

Off to think some more.

BTW: Can anyone think of a name for Mr. X? I find it irritating to think/write about a character if I don't have a name. It's as if we haven't been properly introduced. I might make his first name be Ralph, in honor (so to speak) of Ralph Nickleby (Maybe. Maybe not.) But the last? This will be set in Minnesota, so something Germanic/Nordic.

I don't promise to use any suggestions, but feel free to offer them.

Peg

More re: Dickens

I was dead on target when I remarked earlier today that Dickens’ work was all about the contrast between the heart of flesh and the heart of stone. After I wrote that, I came across this passage in Chapter 11 of Nicholas Nickleby:

It was a curious contrast to see how the timid country girl [Kate, lovely sister of our hero, Nicholas] shrunk through the crowd that hurried up and down its streets, giving way to the press of people and clinging closely to Ralph [boo, hiss, our villain] as though she feared to lose him in the throng; and how the stern and hard-featured man of business went doggedly on, elbowing the passengers aside, and now and then exchanging a gruff salutation with some passing acquaintance, who turned to look back upon his pretty charge with looks expressive of surprise. But it would have been a stranger contrast still, to have read the hearts that were beating side by side; to have laid bare the gentle innocence of the one, and the rugged villainy of the other; to have hung upon the guileless thoughts of the affectionate girl, and been amazed that among all the wily plots and calculations of the old man, there should not be one word or figure denoting thought of death or of the grave. But it was so; and stranger still—though this is a thing of every day—the warm young heart palpitated with a thousand anxieties and apprehensions, while that of the old worldly man lay rusting in its cell, beating only as a piece of cunning mechanism, and yielding no one throb of hope, or fear, or love, or care, for any living thing.

Bounce, bounce. Ha!

Peg

Mr. X has a first name!

I got a voice-mail from a college friend, Sheila-Marie, who had read my LiveJournal and left the sensible suggestion that I could name my villain after Ralph Nickleby, but give it a Scandinavian twist by changing it slightly to "Rolf." My baby name books indicate that both names are related to "wolf," which seems highly appropriate, but Rolf is more in use in Scandinavian countries.

We're still working on the last name, but I am delighted by this suggestion for the first and will use it. I hereby declare to all and sundry that Sheila-Marie is a w00by, and moreover, that I will be happy to give her a LiveJournal code, thereby enabling her to start her own LiveJournal, which will, in turn, make it even easier for her to follow along as I write this book so that she can continue to send me excellent and sensible ideas. Sheila-Marie, e-mail me if you're interested, and the code's yours.

Cheers,
Peg