MR BOUNDERBY by Charles Dickens

1) list of words or phrases describing Mr. Bounderby:

• a man perfectly devoid of sentiment

• a rich man, banker, merchant, manufacturer

• a big, laud man, with a stare and a metallic laugh

• made out of coarse material

• with a great puffed head and forehead

• he had swelled veins in his temples and a strained skin: the skin seemed to lift his whole face

• inflated like a balloon, ready to start

• he could never sufficiently vaunt himself

• he proclaimed his old ignorance and poverty continuously

• the bully of humility

• he looked older

• he had not much hair

• constantly blown about his windy boastfulness

2) Items (of description) connected to the narrator’s comment: like a balloon , the bully of humility, he looked older, he had not much hair, constantly blown about his windy boastfulness.

3) Surname: word BOUNDER (dictionary) --> a man who behaves badly or in a way that is not moral, especially in his relationships with women.

Meaning reinforced by the way in which he addresses to mrs. Gradgrind: he seems like he wants to subdue the woman, he underlines his predominant position. From the text: “ He stood before the fire (…) partly because he thus took up a commanding position, from which to subdue Mrs. Gradgrind.”

4) Coming from a poor family, without education, a self-made man; these attributes do not create admiration in the reader because Mr. Bounderby vaunts himself in an exaggerate way, he reveals to be too proud and self-confident than he is expected to be. He does not show a little of humility or sobriety, his presumption creates in the mind of the reader an unbearable figure.

5) Aspects emphasized by what the man says: he shows and emphasizes self-pity; he constantly focuses on his terrible past conditions and on his ability in facing them. Mr. Bounderby praises on his own, and he gives a personal, unquestioned viewpoint of himself. He shows an obsessive pride on what he has done up to now.

6) Repetition of the pronoun I when Mr. Bounderby speaks: he puts himself first, he shows his interest only in his personal situation.