Little Dorrit, Book 2: Riches, Chapter 13 summary
Book 2: Riches, Chapter 13 of 70 · 25 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 13, admiration for Mr Merdle spreads through Bleeding Heart Yard, and Pancks urges Arthur Clennam to invest after revealing his own thousand-pound stake. Cavalletto’s frightened return interrupts the Plornishes’ evening, while Arthur’s concerns about Doyce and his family make Pancks’s financial advice increasingly persuasive.
What happens
- Merdle’s fame fills Bleeding Heart Yard, where indebted tenants use his imagined generosity to deflect Pancks’s demands for rent.
- Pancks visits the Plornishes, whose busy shop struggles because customers buy goods without paying.
- Cavalletto returns by a roundabout route after seeing a man he fears, and anxiously watches the shop entrance.
- Arthur brings news from Miss Dorrit, then invites Pancks home for dinner and companionship.
- Pancks reveals his investment in Merdle’s enterprises and urges Arthur to enrich himself for Doyce and his family.
- The next day, Arthur repeatedly considers Pancks’s advice and begins questioning his own distance from Merdle’s schemes.
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In this chapter
What to notice
The disease comparison identifies Pancks’s confident advice as a danger rather than a reliable safeguard. His friendship makes that advice especially persuasive to Arthur.
Quick check
What does Pancks reveal about his own money?
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