72 pages • 2 hours read
Charles DickensThe Old Curiosity Shop
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1840A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 13-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Later that same morning, violent knocking at the shop door wakes up Mr. Quilp and Mr. Brass. Quilp realizes the key is missing, and he is even further surprised to see the locks are already unfastened. He at first thinks the person knocking is his wife, and he launches himself through the doorway with the intent to stun her. As soon as Quilp is through the door, he himself is beaten and stunned. To his surprise, it is Dick Swiveller delivering the beating. Dick explains that he knocked so aggressively because he felt Mrs. Quilp, who arrived before him, was knocking too softly. Dick is here to see Nell and check on the grandfather; the three enter the house and Mrs. Quilp goes upstairs to announce Dick’s visit. She returns quickly, as Nell and her grandfather are already gone. Dick leaves as Kit arrives. Kit fights Tom Scott to win the linnet bird Nell left behind, which Tom and Mr. Quilp plan to kill. Kit brings the bird home and hangs its cage near the window.
Chapter 14 Summary
Kit wanders the streets looking for quick work so he can buy birdfeed and other necessities for his family. He soon encounters an elderly couple, the Garlands, whose carriage is pulled by a rather obstinate horse; Kit offers to mind their horse while they visit a notary, Mr. Witherden.
The Garlands and Mr. Witherden discuss Abel Garland, their son, and sign a few legal documents concerning Abel. A man named Mr. Chuckster, the notary’s clerk, witnesses the signatures. The family leaves the notary and pays Kit quite well for his services with the horse—in fact, he is a little overpaid and agrees to return later to work off the difference. On his way home, Kit can now afford birdfeed and more items for his family than he originally expected he could. Kit finds himself in such a good mood that he halfway hopes to find Nell and her grandfather waiting for him at home.
Chapters 13-14 Analysis
Kit stumbles into good fortune more easily than any other character in the novel (besides Nell, as the reader will see later). When Nell leaves behind her linnet bird, Kit wins it from Quilp and Tom in a fight, determined to hold on to the one remaining reminder of his closest friend. If he had not won the bird, or not cared enough about Nell to stop them wringing the bird’s neck, he never would have needed birdfeed. Now that he has another living being to take care of, he has a stronger sense of urgency to find new employment. The generosity of the Garlands is a stunning change of pace. They not only need to employ him, however temporary that employment may be, but they also have the means to pay him well. Mr. Garland overpaying Kit spurs Mr. Chuckster’s dislike of the boy; he continually refers to him as “snobby” after this, partly out of envy for Kit’s preferential treatment, but also out of jealousy that Kit can handle the Garlands’ horse better than he has ever managed.
Interestingly, Nell’s bird is a linnet bird, which is a common type of finch. When a songbird is caged, it calls to mind a long history of symbolism of repressed/oppressed humanity, and the freed bird signifies liberty. When Nell leaves her caged bird behind, she herself becomes free from her life in the Shop—free from her sadness and her pains. When Kit takes possession of the bird, he symbolically takes on Nell’s suffering. The linnet bird is also known to fly in flocks with finches of other species, so in some cases it represents unification or togetherness—which is fitting now that Kit owns the bird, as it is he who will bring the heroes of the novel together by the end.
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By Charles Dickens
