Northanger Abbey September 3 Post

Chapter 9: John and Catherine are talking about John's gig and James's gig

""Break down! Oh! lord! Did you ever see such a little tittuppy thing in your life? There is not a sound piece of iron about it. The wheels have been fairly worn out these ten years at least and as for the body! Upon my soul, you might shake it to pieces yourself with a touch. It is the most devilish little ricketty business I ever beheld!"... "Unsafe! Oh, lord! what is there in that? they will only get a roll if it does break down; and there is plenty of dirt, it will be excellent falling. Oh, curse it! the carriage is safe enough if a man knows how to drive it; a thing of that sort in good hands will last above twenty years after it is fairly worn out...""

I chose this passage because it shows exactly what kind of character John Thorpe is like. In one moment he is criticizing another's property and then in the next moment he is defending it because it was going to be an inconvenience to him. Catherine was worried about her brother, but John did not want to turn around and help them. At this moment in the story, Catherine started to question John for  not being able to stick to his word. Catherine obviously cared more about Mr. Tilney at this point, but after the ride on the gig, Catherine tried to avoid John Thorpe at the Pump room. To me, John comes off as arrogant and very selfish, and while the novel was written in the 1800's, John could easily be someone in this day and age. John is by no means a charming character, but he believes he is charming. I think that it is interesting to see how the people in this book are so similar to modern day. Catherine is looking for love, but she is still looking for someone with good qualities and a good character. John only seems to care about himself, his image, and likes to belittle other people. Not only is John's character not the best, but his word is no good. He says one thing, and then he'll change it a second later. John is not a likable character, but I chose this passage because of how shocking I found some of his comments to be.