Mary Barton Conflict

759 Words2 Pages

Mary Barton, written by Elizabeth Gaskell and published in 1848, features more than one type of conflict. One of these conflicts would be the division between the classes, such as the ruling class versus the working class. Another would be the love triangle between Mary, Jem, and Harry. The third example that will be used is, or course, the murder that breaks up the love triangle and renders it not an issue. This essay will describe in detail each of these issues. Starting off with a conflict based off a true story: the class division. Although the other two issues listed are purely fiction, this one is sadly a historical fact; and one that is, to a lesser degree, still ongoing today. In the novel, it was mainly focusing on the …show more content…

The rude, hotheaded son of the factory owner where John worked. He had little regard for people besides himself, and continuously florted with Mary despite her rejecting every one of his advances; and it can be said that his only redeeming trait was that he was often described as handsome. He was also, of course, very wealthy. He thought that mill or factory owners should not give in to their workers requests, and even drew cruel cartoons of them. It was no big surprise that he ended up dead. Which finally leads us into the third major conflict of the story, the murder of Harry Carson. He was killed by John Barton, although Jem Wilson was willing to take the blame; and the reason why was simple. John was outraged at the way he and his fellow workers were being treated and he wanted to make that very, very clear to the mill owner. In a way that would affect Mr. Carson personally. However, he later regrets the murder and when he dies he makes that very clear, begging for forgiveness. Interestingly enough, as was previously mentioned, Jem Wilson cared enough for Mary that he did take the blame for Harry’s murder- it wasn’t simply an offer, but something he went through with; he ended up convicted for it, but was eventually freed at which point he was wed to Mary and they both moved to

Open Document