"It was Stryver's grand peculiarity that he always seemd too big for any place, or space. He was much too big for Tellson's that old clerks in distant corners looked up with looks of remonstrance, as though he squeezed them against the wall......The discreet Mr. Lorry said in a sample tone of the voice he would recommend under the circumstances. 'How do you do Mr. Stryver? How do you do, sir?' and shook hands." (Page 148)
In this passage, Dickens describes how Stryver always seems to be too large for any place he goes. Obviously, he is not referring to his weight or stature, but perhaps his ego or overall personality. So far in the book, we have seen Stryver's ego get the best of him in many situations. He considers himself doing a service to Lucie by asking her to marry him (being the successful, upward-moving man that he is.) Dickens contrasts Stryver's egotistic entrance to the bank with the very "discreet" response by Mr. Lorry. It is quite apparent that these two men are portrayed as opposites in this passage, and Dickens once again uses Stryver in one of his "Double Trouble" motifs.
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1 comment:
I wrote about this in my journal and I got the same impression. Also, for further clarification, the picture on the page next to this passage shows Stryver in the bank and he is far from fat.
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