Northanger Abbey Post #2

Page 186 Chapter 24:
Henry to Catherine
"If understand you rightly, you had formed a surmise of such horror as I have hardly words to- Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging from? Remember we are English, that we are Christians. Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you- Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do our laws connive them?..."

At this moment Catherine believes that General Tilney is responsible for the death of his wife many years prior, and when Catherine tells Henry she is met with a response that makes her feel very ashamed. What I want to look at is Henry's response, or at least the beginning of it. Henry uses the fact that because they are English and Christian, they cannot commit such a crime. From this, I found that he sees his cohort as a group that is above crime (therefore they cannot commit a crime like this). It is one thing for him to act defensive, but he does not mention anything about his father's character. Just because a commandment says that you shall not kill someone, does not suddenly mean that all Christians lack the ability to kill. Henry is probably saying that his father would follow Christian teachings, but unfortunately there are people who say one thing and do another. This of course is a very extreme situation, but General Tilney is by no means proven innocent because of his nationality or religion. Henry goes on to talk about whether or not the laws allow them. When I first read this part, I took it as though he thought a law could not be broken. So he is either acting very innocent and naïve or he is trying to come up with an excuse to protect his father. I just found this section interesting because of what Henry thought would have been a logical argument against Catherine.