Summary — Chapter 1: Another Thing Needful
In her bed at Stone Lodge, Louisa recuperates from her
trauma. Her father remorsefully pledges his support but acknowledges
that he does not really know how to help her because he himself
has never learned “the wisdom of the Heart.” Sissy lovingly vows
to help Louisa learn how to feel and how to find happiness.
Summary — Chapter 2: Very Ridiculous
The day after Louisa’s arrival, Sissy takes it upon herself
to visit James Harthouse, who has been in a nervous state since
Louisa’s failure to appear at their tryst in Coketown. Sissy tells
Harthouse that he will never see Louisa again and that he must leave
Coketown and swear never to return. Baffled and feeling very ridiculous,
Harthouse is able to resist neither Sissy’s simple, persuasive honesty
nor her beauty; he grudgingly agrees to leave Coketown forever.
Summary — Chapter 3: Very Decided
At the same time, Mrs. Sparsit, now stricken with a bad
cold caught from her drenching in the rain, tells Bounderby what
she witnessed between Louisa and Harthouse. Bounderby furiously
drags Mrs. Sparsit to Stone Lodge, where he confronts Gradgrind
about Louisa’s perceived infidelity. Gradgrind tells Bounderby that
he fears he has made a mistake in Louisa’s upbringing, and he asks
Bounderby to allow Louisa to remain at Stone Lodge on an extended
visit while she tries to recover. He reminds Bounderby that as Louisa’s
husband, he should try to do what is best for her. Bounderby, enraged, threatens
to send back all of Louisa’s property, effectively abandoning her
and placing her back in her father’s hands if she is not home by
noon the next day. Gradgrind does not budge, and Louisa remains
at Stone Lodge. Bounderby makes good on his threat and resumes his
life as a bachelor.
Summary — Chapter 4: Lost
Bounderby diverts his rage into the continuing efforts
to find Stephen Blackpool. Slackbridge gives a speech blaming Stephen
for the robbery, and the Hands are roused to track him down. One
day, Louisa is paid a visit by Bounderby, her brother, and a sobbing Rachael,
who protests that Stephen will return to clear his good name. Although
she is loath to suspect Louisa of deceit, Rachael fears that Louisa’s
previous offer of money was merely a cover for her plan to frame
Stephen for the robbery. Rachael has sent Stephen two letters explaining
the charges against him, and she claims that he will return to Coketown
in one or two days. But a week passes, and still he does not return.
His continued absence only increases suspicion against him.
Analysis — Book the Third: Garnering: Chapters
1–4
At the beginning of Book the Third, Louisa and Mr. Gradgrind begin
a process of emotional healing and discovery. The title of Chapter 1,
“Another Thing Needful,” echoes the title of the first chapter of
Book the First, “The One Thing Needful,” revealing that Gradgrind
has realized that fact alone cannot sustain a happy and fulfilling
existence. However, the healing process is very slow. Because Louisa
and her father are so accustomed to living their lives according
to the philosophy of fact, learning how to change their mode of
thinking is difficult at this point. Thus, Mr. Gradgrind declares
to Louisa: “The ground on which I stand has ceased to be solid under
my feet.” Although he no longer believes that fact alone is necessary,
he does not know exactly what else is needed to make Louisa happy.
Recognizing that he is not a fit teacher for his daughter, Gradgrind
hopes that Sissy will be able to help her. While Louisa fears that
Sissy must hate her for her former coldness, Sissy is understanding
and forgiving, as usual. Together with Louisa’s loving younger sister
Jane, Sissy undertakes to restore happiness to Louisa’s life.
The meeting between Harthouse and Sissy indicates the
importance of a character who has remained in the background for
much of the novel. Through this meeting we are reminded of the values that
Sissy represents—compassion, forgiveness, and joy. The narrator
establishes a contrast between these values and the sophisticated Harthouse’s
self-centered manipulation of other people. Indeed, the narrator
relates that Sissy’s good-natured reproach touches Harthouse “in
the cavity where his heart should have been.” In suggesting that
Harthouse has no heart, the narrator suggests that he has not been
motivated by evil intentions but rather by a lack of good intentions—Harthouse
is amoral rather than immoral. Harthouse himself acknowledges that
he had “no evil intentions” toward Louisa but merely “glided from
one step to another” without realizing the emotional havoc that
his seduction might cause.
