One of the characters that struck me so far in Dickens Bleak House is the law writer, Nemo. Initially, I did not know that his name in Latin stands for “no one” (161). I found his name interesting because although technically it is a name, this title does not stand for anything or anyone in particular. The definition of the name evokes images of empty space, nothingness, and void; In some ways, his character reminds me of nameless figure in Poe’s short story “The Man of the Crow.” Both Poe’s narrator and the unknown man he chases in the crowd are nameless individuals who outside of the crowd may be unique and distinct, but when they merge with the crowd, they ultimately loose any possibility of maintaining a sense of their own individuality. However, with Dickens’ character Nemo, he is faceless from the start—he is no one, and yet he is everyone. His name can be replaced with any other name that is more personal, but Nemo will still remain somewhat of an abstract figure.
The only information we receive is that Nemo is a law writer who may have been addicted to opium. It struck me that Dickens has his nameless character involved in writing down laws and other important documents. What is Dickens suggesting about the bureaucratic process in England during the 19th century? Is he mocking the political process? Why does he have an ambiguous figure associated with the drafting laws? What does this imply? Granted Nemo is not creating these documents from scratch, instead he is merely copying down the information, but even the job itself seems a little mundane and boring. My other question is why would Dickens characterize a law writer as Nemo—a no one? What assumptions is he making about the laws that were in acted at this time? Maybe I’m reading too much into this. I’m not sure…
When Mr. Tulkinghorn arrives at Nemo’s apartment, he finds Nemo dead, laying on the bed, “ragged too, and grown like the scum and mist around him, in neglect” (165). He has been dead for quite sometime and not a single person, not even his landlord is aware of it. Nemo is completely alienated from those around him. The landlord explains that according to Nemo, he was his closest relation; however, the landlord has limited knowledge and limited access to writer’s personal life (167). Nemo seems to reflect the alienation that one might experience living in the city. He is disconnected from the characters in the novel, so much so that by the time Nemo is introduced to the audience, the narrator refers to his written work first, and then the audience learns of his death. Even the readers do not interact with him, instead they are given this strange and short narrative of his immediate death without ever really understanding the character. So, my final question is why is Nemo in this passage? Although he will no longer appear in the novel, I’m assuming that his drafts will turn up soon, otherwise why would Dickens bother introducing him into the text?
Ms. Cacace,
ReplyDeleteThose are great questions. I'm not sure that Nemo is drafting legislating though; instead he appears to be copying legal pleadings. Since they didn't have copy machines in those days—at least not that I can recall (LOL)— court briefs had to be copied by hand, at the very least one for the court and one for the opposing counsel. Yes, it was a mundane job, and that may be one reason for Nemo's name, but it may also be because "no one" knows anything about him other than Jo, who himself has only half a name, but he knows that Nemo "wos wery good to [him]." Despite Nemo's nonentity, or because of it, he's the catalyst for the mystery theme, which provides the primary action of the novel.