"When they took a young man into Tellson's London House, they hid him somewhere till he was old. They kept him in a dark place, like a cheese, until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mould upon him. Then only was he permitted to be seen" (57).
This passage, although it may not directly state what we think of time spent in prison, shows how Tellson's uses a method of imprisonment to mold their workers into the type of people accepted by the establishment. They are so intent on keeping everything the same at Tellson's, like their building and employees, that they will hide or capture anything or anyone (representing or having to do with the bank) that lacks the traits they require until they display the acceptable traits. This method "imprisons" any non-Tellson's attributes one may possess, and for the people themselves, they are not allowed to let their emotions and actions run freely. This may explain Mr. Lorry's "business only slogan" as emotions are not welcome at Tellson's Bank and he knows he may face consequences if any surface.
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3 comments:
I agree, and I think that this is a very creative way to represent the motif. I especially agree with how they "mold" people into the right shape; after all, prison is supposed to do the same thing.
I agree with what you said, and I remember thinking the same thing. Also, later in the story, when Mr. Lorry is talking to Mr. Stryver, he calls Dr. Manette his "friend", which he was afraid to do before. It seems as though when Dr. Manette was set free, Mr. Lorry began to free himself from the emotionlessness of the bank.
I didn't really notice that until I read the post. I think that it's interesting that even though when Dickens' talks about prisons the reader usually thinks of Doctor Manette, but the post and your comments have made me think about how really Mr. Lorry could be imprisoned or trapped in his work allowing him to have little to no emotion or friendships with clients. As you said hemanth he is now finding a way to free himself as he is referring to people as his friends.
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