Aimee Xu

Aimee is a student at USC’s Marshall School of Business. She plans to graduate in 2019 with a double major in both Business Administration and Applied and Computational Mathematics.


Chapters 32-39 Illustrations

Mr. Chester’s Diplomacy, illustration by Hablot Knight Browne

Solomon Frightened by a Ghost, illustration by Hablot Knight Browne

Old John’s Bodyguard, illustration by Hablot Knight Browne

Distinguished Guests at the Maypole, illustration by Hablot Knight Browne

A No-Popery Dance, illustration by Hablot Knight Browne

Mr. Tappertit Finds an Old Friend, illustration by Hablot Knight Browne

43 Comments

  1. Hi Aimee, thank you for taking the time to summarize chapters 32-39, there was a lot of important information and also many conflicts involving these chapters. In the chapters there is still a lot of mysteries happening, especially with “dead” people and the riots beginning to happen. There is a lot of question that still needs to be answer, and for the mystery to unfold. Also, businesses were being made, and we know that money makes people do a lot of things even to the extend of killing, but also religion can have those effects. One question I have is, that Dickens writes about wealth and religion and critiques certain aspects of both, which one is being critized more or which one has more power over people?

    Reply
  2. Hello Aimee! I like the way you touch upon Tappertit. It’s pretty remarkable that the simple angsty group that was hanging out with in the beginning of the novel has evolved to a religiously motivated political mob. I also like the way that Dickens introduces the group. Dickens first describes his characters before labeling them. In a case with Tappertit’s little gang, Dickens shows how the group operate but then 20 something chapters later we finally see “The United Bulldogs, (which is an interesting build-up to see.)

    My question for you is, why do you think Dickens choose to introduce groups and characters in this manner?

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  3. Hello Aimee,
    Thanks for your review. I really appreciated the visuals. I noticed that you mentioned how Joe used his encounter with the three horsemen as a way of profit. Could this profit encounter symbolize Joe’s lack of money or a moment during Dicken’s time when people were going through an economic downfall?

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  4. Hey there Aimee,
    I really liked your video. Appreciate the visuals you provided for us. I especially liked the “No Popery” dance. Though Chapter 32 really got me thinking of how John Chester, disowned his son Ned for wanting to change how he thinks of Emma whom he likes is pretty intense. If that happened, would that be considered a punishment? And if so, are there any other punishments that the fathers would give their sons because of disobeying during that time period?

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  5. Hi Aimee, thank you for the summary! I was really interested in the aspect that was mentioned of Edward and his father Mr.Chester. I noticed, as you mentioned too, that within the conversation of Edward trying to persuade his father about Emma the main points that were brought up by Mr.Chester were of class (money) and religion. Since class and religion are really key aspects of the novel, was this scene between Edward and Mr.Chester one of many that focused on those two points as a way to introduce class and religion and to show how it would lead to larger issues such as the riots? Was it to show how class and religion begin as these small issues within relationships that then turn into outbursts?

    Reply
  6. Hello Aimee, I appreciate the illustrations you provided for us to understand your analysis more. I was intrigued by these chapters because these chapters in particular, focus on a larger amount of conflict. I also thank you for pointing out the shift in text between chapters as well as a time shift of 5 years in the book. I believe this makes these chapters made the novel more interesting.

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  7. Hello Aimee, I noticed that you mentioned that when Joe meets the three horsemen, he charges them money which benefits him, but at this scene, I noticed that the novel is full of bribes, blackmailing, and stealing money from one another and it seems money plays a major role in the novel Barnaby Rudge. Why do you suppose Dickens mentions money so much in the novel? Also, the three horsemen reminded me of “good things come in threes.” Would Dickens use the three horsemen, who were led by Sir George Gordon, as a symbol of chaos instead of bringing harmony to London?

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  8. Thank you Aimee for taking the time to summarize these chapters for us. The visuals were a great help to follow along on what you were explaining with great detail! However I like to ask about the ghost you mentioned during the video. Do you believe the ghost symbolizes any form of darkness, vast emptiness, or is it simply just a ghost to arise chaos? Is the ghost somewhat similar from the play “Hamlet” from Shakespeare? It also seems that Dickens is constantly criticizing groups that think highly of themselves. It seems that, that is the reason that riots rise and Dickens is giving an insight that “groups” that think highly of themselves can be taken down with mobs. Do you believe this is the case?

    Thank you once again for your video and time!

    Reply
  9. Hello Aime,
    First off , I loved the visuals , they were humorous while still being informal of what was going on in the novel. I never really noticed what Dickens was trying to accomplish by explaining Lord George’s nightmare to us . But you cleared up that confusion by explaining how it was a characterization technique to show how much religion mattered to the character. My question is what has influenced Lord George so much that he would be terrified of even the thought of being jewish?

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  10. Hello Aimee, Thank you for the summaries they allowed me to understand the main points of the chapters. One thing that I can’t get off my mind that you mentioned was the No-Popery dance. My question is how does this dance relate to present time dances or actions. For example, what relationships are presented between the No-Popery dance and Collin Kaepernick taking a knee during his games.

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  11. Hey Aimee!

    Thank you so much for explaining chapters 32-39 individually rather than just a whole. I also appreciate the visuals you gave my classmates and I to understand the chapters clearer. Relating to Edward being disowned by Mr. Chester, Why do you think Mr. Chester went as far as disowning his own child only because of one girl? You said that the chapter mainly focuses on wealth and class, so do you think this is a reason as to why Mr. Chester hates Emma apart from the beef he has with her family?

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  12. Amy, I appreciate you summarizing chapters 32 to 39, it allowed me to understand the book way more. One of the points that was really interesting to me in your summary was when you talked about Chapter 37 when Lord George had a nightmare where he and Gashford were Jewish. Eventually this showed the religious context in the narrative and the characters focus on religious beliefs trying to spread Protestantism. I really liked the way you included “The Popery” dance and visuals which made me picture the book in my head. Going back to religion, it plays a key part due to the fact that many people back then hated Catholics and didn’t want them near. Because of this, How does religion truly affect or help the other characters? Did Dickens purposely use religion in his book to send some sort of message?

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  13. Thank You Aimee for giving me a better understanding of chapters 32-39. I find it interesting how Dickens emphasizes this idea of class in chapter 32. As Edward tells Mr. Chester about Emma, Mr. Chester disowns him. I think that Edward proves his love for Emma because he goes against this authoritarian figure, which is his father. But, Why is that Dickens decides to skip time periods after chapter 32.

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  14. Hey Amiee! Thanks for the visuals and insight on the chapters that you focused on. Religion is a big part of the novel and consists of many dynamics towards the characters. Lord George dreams that he was a Jew but always focused on religious beliefs. During the day he tried to spread protestism as a whole and through his sleep. How well has he conveyed his religious beliefs to others?

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  15. Hello Aimee. Thank you for explaining chapters 32-39. It really gave me a great understanding of the important events going on during this part of the story. The pictures also really helped in comprehending the story visually. I find it really interesting that you mentioned that in chapter 39, Tappertit questions Dennis’s job. The fact that Dennis is a hangman and wears the clothing of his so called friends that are dead is quite weird and creepy. I understand now why Tappertit has a reason to be aware and concerned. Why does Dennis decide to wear the clothing and how does Tappertit’s perspective on Dennis change?

    Reply
  16. Hello Aimee. Thanks for the video, it was very helpful the way you explained the chapter. Your video gave me a better and greater understanding of the important events within these chapters. What caught my attention was when you mentioned that these chapters were about wealth and class. This caught my attention because I knew that John Chester wants Edward Chester to marry a rich girl. My question is, if these chapter focused on wealth and class, what was the role of incorporating religion? Why did Charles Dickens include religion with wealth and class? Thanks for the video!!!!

    Reply
  17. Hello Aimee, thank you so much for letting us know your viewpoint and your take on these chapters. Thank you for taking the time to do this for us. I really enjoyed listening to what you had to say, this really helped me understand these chapters a bit more. Something that really stood out for me was when you talked about Joe charging the three horsemen money to stay at his place. I have come to the conclusion that most of the characters, in the novel, just want money. I wonder since this novel is a historical novel, does Dickens use this scene to depict the way people in that time period actually acted. Did people only care about earning money during that time?

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  18. Hello Aimee,
    Thank you for summarizing chapters 32-39 to help better understand. It seems the main conflicts have now risen and many involve, or are moved by, religion. I would like to focus more on how the religions mentioned in the book go with the history of that time period and how it helps develop the story. A question I have is, how much power does religion have in the book during that time period compared to wealth, and how strong is religion’s impact to the story?

    Reply
  19. Hey Aimee, thank you so much for your video!
    As you said, in chapter 35, it is seen how John’s fear of the unknown (the three horsemen) gets the best of him, and he fears the three horsemen to be highwaymen. It is not until he sees that they are friendly, that he offers them somewhere to stay. In most literature, however, there is often an allusion to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as a symbol for incoming chaos. Would you say there’s a chance that Dickens maybe used Lord George Gordon and his crew to really point out the real chaos in the book? That being the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants. Did Dickens use the three horsemen to signal the coming of something big in the following chapters?
    Thanks again!

    Reply
  20. Hi Aimee, thank you for taking the time Go over these chapters. There was a lot of important information and also many conflicts involving these chapters. In the chapters there is still a religion thing where Barnaby tries to convey his religiousness beliefs to others. My question is why does Barnaby barely show this type of religion thing instead of the whole episode that can maybe affect some characters?

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  21. Hello Aimee , I just wanted to say thank you for summarizing the summary with us and making sure we were following along . Answering all of our question
    I keep wondering if the people in high power would change the uniforms since they now know it’s wasn’t such a good idea since the poor or lower-class know now it’s being mad a mockery?
    Or would it even matter to them since they know that there in high power and at the bottom their still servants

    Reply
  22. Hello Aimee, thanks so much for the time taken on this summary. I liked the concept art and other images you incorporated into your video, it helped to give me a better understanding. So your sum up on Chester disowning Edward. I have two questions on that whole conflict. One that mainly focuses on this conflict, and another that has just been lingering on my mind since chapter 14. My first is who do you think is a worse father, Mr. Willet or Mr. Chester? As for my second question, why does Mr. Chester attempt to live so luxuriously when he demands his son only marries a rich woman rather than seeking the fortune in his own actions? Thanks.

    Reply
  23. Hello Aimee, thank you for creating this helpful video. You mentioned that chapter 38 develops Hugh’s involvement in Protestantism culminating with a “No Popery dance.” Important to note that he did not perform this dance by himself but with a friend and after drinking liquor. It seems like Dickens makes distinctions between the individual thought process and the mob mentality of riots. Is Dickens directly criticizing human fallibility through the drunken state of the mind? It is also interesting, how religion, a system that seems so pure by many, causes the violence among people in the novel. Is this also a point of criticism on Dickens’ part?

    Reply
  24. Hi Aimee,
    Thank you for a great summary on these chapters! I really enjoy the way you strucured this video and wanted to elaborate on what you said about dreams in Chapter 37.. I agree that religion is depicted to be important to the characters in these chapters, particularly with Lord George, becuase of how it stays with them even in their dreams. It reminded me of how, around Chapter 7, there is an image showing what Barnaby is dreaming about. Do you think that these dreams can be used as a way to have a more personal insight on these character’s thoughts? With Barnaby’s dream for example, the image shows multiple unique characters, which I believe contrasts Barnaby’s friendly personality. Are these strange characters shown as a way to represent Baranby’s inner conflict? Thank you again for your insight!

    Reply
  25. Hello Aimee,
    Thank you for taking the time to create this video. I know that Dickens didn’t portray Tappertit as the most favorable character from the start and the fact that Lord George would want to be acquainted with him proves that Dickens wasn’t necessarily in favor of the Gordon riots. I like that you mentioned religion and the “protestant cause” throughout the video. Overall, do you think that Dickens was trying to satirize these religion driven riots?

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  26. Hello Aimee, thank you for explaining and giving a more in-depth explanation of the illustrations and passages in chapter 32 to 39. In chapter 37, you explained that Lord George has a dream about being Jewish (which is alluded by Dickens that it was more of an anti-semitic nightmare) and how that dream showed how religion specifically that of Protestant belief was extremely important to many of the rioters at the time. However, did the illustration and passage as well as display the inhumane morality of those in England at the time? And what exactly was dickens trying to display about religious views at the time?

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  27. Good Evening Aimee, I wanted to thank you f or the wonderful analysis of the chapters as well as the wonderful visuals. By clearing up some confusions I had prior to your summarization, I was able to understand the religious belief of a character and an impact on his or her character in a setting with other characters. My question is why is religion so important to a character, especially for a character placed in this time period?

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  28. Good Evening Aimee, I hope that this message finds you well. I thank you for your helpful summary and you’re superb analysis. Hearing your views and understanding the book from your point of view has aided me in finding meaning in the book. I especially enjoyed what you had to say about Joe and his adventures with the horseman. Your analysis was indeed impressive and allowed me to feel as if I was a Dickens expert. I do wonder however, why does Chester hate Emma? I know there is some sort of family issues between them but is that it? Thanks!

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  29. Thank you so much Aimee for taking time out of your day to make such a clarifying and interesting video! You really clarified my thoughts when it came to the three horsemen. I now understand that they were bad men who basically stole and tried to steal. I honestly can relate to Joe. In his situation, I would’ve been off too. My question to you is why do you think Dickens didn’t make this scene bigger?

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  30. Hi Aimee, I enjoyed your visuals and the short summaries you provided for each chapter. I noticed that you mentioned that Gashford and Lord George focus so much on religion every day that it even ended up creeping up into Lord George’s dream. They’re both so concerned with this, as you called it, Protestant cause of theirs that it has invaded their lives, but because they have allowed it to do so. I understand that too many religion, in general, is of great importance, but why isn’t enough for these two men to simply make sure that they remain Protestant? Why do they find it necessary to tamper with the life of other’s who aren’t?

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  31. Hello Aimee, thank you for the wonderful video. I understood that religion plays a big role in people’s daily life. As you explained in chapter 37, Lord George had a nightmare about how he and Gashford were Jewish. Thus showing how religion affects the perspective of others. This pushes people to have a closed a mindset rather than having an open mindset. How does Dickens critique the religion aspect of people’s daily life.

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  32. Hi Aimee,
    I loved your video! It was so entertaining and really captured the most important parts of the story. Thank you for that! In your video, you explain that John Willet decides to tell Haredale about Solomon Daisy’s encounter with the ghost. It seems like he felt like telling Haredale was a moral responsibility of his. This side of John Willet really contrasts with how he is with Joe in the beginning of the novel. What do you think was his motivation for wanting to tell Haredale? Also, what does it mean that he’s helpful toward other older adults and not his own son, whom he treats so submissively?

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  33. Hey, Aimee! Just wanted to thaNk you for this helpful video! It gave me more background knowledge about the novel. Not only did you manage to do that, but in a most interesting and funny way. The visuals really help understand better. For example the religion aspect of these chapters really reflect on the whole conflict and why it even started. By watching this video I learned that religion at this time was no joke. My question for you is why do you think Dickens incorporated religion beliefs to escalate a problem? And why not another idea ?

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  34. Hello Aimee, thank you for the graphics that made me focus more. I was very curious about the idea of ghosts. In this time period do you think that many people of all classes believed in the supernatural considering the situations? Can you tell me more about the problem about people having a problem about Jews compared to the events that happened in the 1940s?

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  35. Hello Aimee!! Thank you so much for making such an amazingly helpful video for us to watch we really appreciate it. Before watching your video I had been a bit confused about the real intentions of the horsemen because in other literature the use of horsemen is usually linked with the apocalypse and the start of complete chaos. My question to you is, why do you think religion is mixed in with the mention of wealth and class?

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  36. Hey Aimee, thanks for that video — the visuals were really helpful, So far, what we have seen is the interesting, and at times heartbreaking, dynamic between Mr. Chester and Edward. Mr. Chester seems to place much importance in the way he is perceived, this is a bit confusing to me as it seems that they are all a community among themselves and they’ve obviously known each other going back generations. So it would make more sense if Mr. Chester didn’t try so hard to be perceived as perfect. What do you think Dickens is trying to point out using Mr. Chester?

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  37. Hey Aimee. Thanks for the visuals, they were really entertaining and satisfying. An interest of mine was the business opportunity that Joe Willet took with the three men– Lord George Gordon, Gashford, and John Grueby– and how it may tie in with the idea of manipulation. Do you believe taking advantage has a role in focusing Tappertit’s role? How does Hugh’s connection have an affect with the Maypole and other characters? Do you believe Chester’s disowning of Edward will have a deeper affect later in the novel?

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  38. Hi Aimee , I want to thank you for taking your time for making this excellent vide on on chapters 32-39. I really loved how you have these great visuals in your video that really help . I know that for me the visuals helped understand both the chapters and it made watching this video interesting . I just want to say keep up the videos , you have a great imagination !

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  39. Hey Ms. Xu,
    Thanks for helping me gain a new perspective of certain aspects of the book that I never would have been able to come up with on my own. You helped me to create my own idea about the true purpose of the horsemen. I now believe that on the most mundane level, their purpose was only to show a bit of a life lesson, that being “don’t jump to conclusions”. As John quickly surmises them to be thieving highwaymen, but eventually comes around to give them a place to stay. So my question is: do you know of any other life lessons that can be found throughout the book? Thanks, once again!

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  40. Hello Aimee, I wanted to tremendously thank you for being able to provide us students more insight into these chapters that will help me develop a better interpretation of the chapters. Throughout chapter 37, you mention the importance of religion and how Lord George wakes up from a nightmare because he believes that he and Gashford are jewish. If religion really does affect the characters within the story like Dickens portrays it to, then does religion impact to actions of certain individuals throughout the entire story?

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  41. Hey Aimee, thank you for summarizing chapters 32 to 39 for us. It’s interesting how the story sort of shifts from a focus on a set of characters to another set of characters, but still manages to tie them back to the main idea of the entire book. What interests me more is the relationship between Edward and Mr. Chester, even though they are already father and son. So my question for you is, why should Edward have to take his father’s disapproval towards Emma? Why can’t he just be with Emma anyways, he is a grown man after all?

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  42. Thank you so much Aimee! With the first chapter explained I can’t help but relate it to the idea of the parents trying to control their children. Do you believe throughout the book it’s trying to get a message out about parents relationships with their child?

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  43. Thank you very much Aimee for your brief summary of chapters 32-39 as well as the visuals that you provided which were pretty amazing, This was a great was to clarify the plot of each chapter. The part that shocked me the most was that Edward’s father, Mr. Chester, basically disclaims his son because he wants to marry Emma in which she isn’t a girl of wealth. Do you think that it was right for Mr. Chester to do such a thing to Edward?

    Reply

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