- Oct 2020
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icla2020b.jonreeve.com icla2020b.jonreeve.com
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life had two sides to it
It's interesting that Godfrey is the character now associated with duplicity when Franklin was the first character said to have multiple sides. Betteredge's discription of Franklin as having an English side, Italian side, German side etc. proved to be not really true when we got to follow Franklin's own narration, or at least not as true as Betteredge implied in his introduction. Meanwhile Godfrey was the goody two shoes boy for most of the book until we started to see some flaws with his engagement to Rachel.
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But she died a dreadful death, poor soul–and I feel a kind of call on me, Mr. Franklin, to humour that fancy of hers
Aww Betteredge. Even though he's got detective fever he wants to do right by Rosanna's last request. I really like how this chapter lets us see an outside perspective of Betteredge, and how he really is the good guy I thought he was.
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I asked him if any slander had been spoken of me in Rachel’s hearing.
Something intersting Franklin seems to be doing more than the other narrators so far is paraphrasing, so it calls into question the veracity of what he's saying. Obviously the question of the reliability of the narrator is always present even when they're directly quoting passages, but I wonder if he'll keep this up. I have a suspicion Franklin knows more than he's letting us know.
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the hospitable impulse was the uppermost impulse
Earlier in this passage, Franklin made it clear that he objects to Betteredge's 'overdrawn' account of his (Franklin's) character. This quote, is a nice reversal of Betteredge's use of 'uppermost'.
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Having heard the story of the past, my next inquiries (still inquiries after Rachel!) advanced naturally to the present time. Under whose care had she been placed after leaving Mr. Bruff’s house? and where was she living now?
Mr Franklin seems more concerned with himself, than with Rachel. He doesn't ask about how she's doing regarding her mother's death. Similarly, in regards to his own fathers death, he only mentions the inheritance and the responsibilities that came with it. It's a little selfish, no?
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- Sep 2020
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icla2020b.jonreeve.com icla2020b.jonreeve.com
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it’s the varnish from foreign parts
The varnish from foreign parts, not his supposedly good nature. Obviously first impressions aren't everything, but even the word varnish implies it's covering up something that shouldn't be seen, an idea foreshadowed a couple sentences later
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