Mill on the floss

It seems fascinating to see how morality of a long subdued heart wins over an overarching allurement which is quite in place for the age, and a subtle ideological struggle of two characters underlies every chapter wherever the story leads, the past works to the detriment as well as has a cumulative influence on a person’s character and not to forget, how a rigid society in the pre-industrial age forms a background which has its own characteristic, somewhat pungent aroma. George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) covers everything, still placing the protagonist on a pedestal the height of which no one can reach!

“Mill on the Floss” forms a part of the age in the English literature in which industrialism had not adulterated the social ties yet. People did not pretend to be liberal, if they were not. It isn’t the society in its purest form, just maintains some amount of requirement of rigid adherence to the rules.

 The classic thus depicts the story of a sister and brother who were very much close to each other in childhood, but later got separated, in the sense that they did not connect to each other with compassion and understanding. The separation takes place owing to a lot of social and economic factors but the major force of it can be attributed to the inherent difference between natural dispositions of the sister and brother.

Maggie: Where does the Floss lead?

It is commendable how the author has used the motif of the river Floss to show the unruliness in the character of Maggie, a young girl in the middle class family of St. Ogg’s in United Kingdom, and her turbulent life.

The author wanted to depict her own life here which is why the book is called the most autobiographical of George Eliot. Impetuous Maggie in the childhood and her struggles with the established notions of her family, which represents the society for a kid, were the efforts of author to demonstrate her lifelong strife.

Maggie is intellectual, impulsive and compassionate; so much unlike her brother, Tom who is materialistic, low of intellect (as author wanted him to be) and the aspiration in his life is majorly to regain the wealth and the reputation of his father. Both of them spend their child hood fighting, mostly because of Tom’s insensitive behavior because Maggie is exceptionally affectionate to Tom, so much so that anyone else’s disdain (the contempt of irritating and snobbish Dodson sisters who do nothing apart from sneering at people) doesn’t even matter to her if Tom is on good terms with her.

The book thus shows how Maggie’s character is crafted, through the years of subdued longings, societal contempt as her family grows suddenly poor. The companionship of Philip Wakem is her only refuge where she learns that she would gain nothing by the asceticism she has forced on herself to reign over her longing heart. The ultimate question of choice comes when Maggie fights Stephen’s persuasion of love, a little too much, and finally achieves what her own conscience would highly commend her for. She is still looked upon as a disgrace; amazingly, for according to the society, there was hardly anything she did apart from responding to the momentary fear of social contempt. She is still supposed to show her fidelity to the welfare of all, which she does, by striving hard to save her brother in the flood that makes the Floss destroy the entire town. The end brings a peaceful stop to the story as there was hardly anything left for Maggie after the lifelong drain of emotions.

Morality in a new light

Maggie’s morality puts her through hardships all her life. Sympathy, according to the author, is the highest form of morality that can be shown by a human being. Maggie is sympathetic, since her childhood, which leads her to develop an understanding of the universe in a new form whereby she can easily make herself sacrifice her own interests owing to that one viscous drop of sympathy in her heart. Philip and Lucy, as much compassionate, help in building the moral framework of the story.

The author has used brilliant themes to underline the nature of every character. For that matter even Maggie’s complexion and features help in bringing out her impetuous character with a strong force. The Dodsons and Miss Guests erect an easy contrast to Maggie’s character. Her parents remain subtly active, on most occasions, though they are the ones who are responsible for the way her life goes.

The author concludes with a hint of nostalgia and redemption. “Nature repairs her ravages - but not all. The uptorn trees are not rooted again - the parted hills are left scarred: if there is a new growth, the trees are not the same as the old, and the hills underneath their green vesture bear the marks of the past rending. To the eyes that have dwelt on the past, there is no thorough repair.”

-Devyani Deshpande