Ruiz de Burton, author of the novel, Who Would Have Thought It?, introduces through the character Rev. Mr. Hackwell, her notion that the world is in need of rogues and social delinquents in order to prevent “the good and proper people of this world...from perish[ing] of sheer inanity” (R. de Burton, pg. 9). Throughout this book, the author’s idea of the necessity of rogues becomes an all encompassing theme; one which at times is quite ironic and satirical.
It is no secret that the true rogues of “this world”, the one pertaining to that of R. de Burton’s work, consist of but are definitely not limited to Rev. Mr. Hackwell, Mr. Hammerhard, and the infamous Mrs. Norval. However the irony is that all the characters, save Lola, Julian, Lavina and perhaps a couple of others, view Dr. Norval as their token rogue, regardless of the fact that he goes to extraordinary lengths to help his family, friends and even his country. I think the author is illustrating the point that although there are good people in this world with true and pure motives, there will always be others who will try to suppress their efforts, and destroy the good because we live in a corrupted world where truth and purity are hard to come by.
Let me leave this topic now and move to that of Mrs. Norval and her “roguish” type character. This lady, if we can even call her that, fits the definition of a rogue in that she is dishonest, immoral and mischievous (Oxford dictionary) but contradicts the notion of a rogue in that she fits in with almost everyone around her. (In my opinion this is because the majority of characters in this book could be described as rogues!) An example of her immorality and dishonesty can be found on pg. 134. When she learns that Mr. Hackwell is in the hospital she connives a plan to be able to see her new love. Even though Emma and Lavvy are taking care of him quite capably on their own, Mrs. Norval decides that she needs to be there for Emma’s sake, who though an adult, is considered by Mrs. Norval to be an orphan. It is ironic that in order to see Mr. Hackwell, Mrs. Norval uses the excuse that she needs to take care of this “orphan girl” yet she despises caring for Lola, the orphan entrusted to her care.
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1 comment:
Hello!
I completely agree with your posting, especially about the true rogues of' this world' I had a very similar opinion on my page. Mrs.Norval is a character who would go great lengths to suppress her uncontrollable jealousy of Lola and of her sister while they are taking care of Mr.Hackwell. I feel sorry for the most pure-hearted characters, such as Dr.Norval and Lola, because they are extremely suppressed by society. Lola is constantly criticized because of her 'blackness' and Dr.Norval has no other but to exile for his 'letters of treason'.
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