The Garths and Fred Vincy

Although presented in low key, the Garth family stands for the solid values of honesty, hard work, and modesty. Caleb, in particular: "his virtual divinities were good practical schemes accurate work and the faithful completion of under-takings: his prince of darkness was a slack workman." Caleb loves to talk of "business" which for him just means new and fruitful ways of managing the farmland. On the financial side, he lacks shrewdness and they struggle to make ends meet. Yet there is a deep bond, not only of warmth and affection, but also of respect between him and Susan. CalebÂ’s support for the new railway, his keen interest in DorotheaÂ’s plans for laborers houses, all mark him, like Lydgate and Ladislaw as one representing social change. His employers respect him, and while he deals justify with them, he is not a servile feudal retainer. CalebÂ’s honesty conquers temptation, when he bluntly refuses BulstrodeÂ’s employment on finding out the facts from Raffles. Yet he refuses to judge Bulstrode, feeling it is not for him to do so Caleb and Susan love their children deeply and are careful to pass on their values. Caleb has warmth for a scamp like Fred Vincy as well recognizing his good qualities - affection and kindness, he wants to give Fred a chance to cast off his pampered upbringing and make good. Susan is a less idealized person. Her slight smugness, her preference for her sons and her natural resentment of FredÂ’s selfishness, make her very human.

Fred is the pampered male equivalent of his sister Rosamond. He is saved by his capacity for affection, his irreverence for snobbery, and his desire to change. His love for Mary has been unchanging since childhood. It defies the difference in their class background in direct reversal of RosamondÂ’s passion for social climbing. In a dramatic sequence, FredÂ’s selfishness is highlighted for him when he deprives Susan of her money for her sonÂ’s education, by rashly making Caleb stand surety for a loan. Elsewhere, he is shaken by Lydgate's falling into a debt trap and by FarebrotherÂ’s friendly threat to compete for MaryÂ’s love. Fred is initially weak, but his acceptance of his mistakes and capacity for change and hard work take him on the path to fulfillment, along, with Mary. It is they who have the truly "happy ending" in the novel.

Nicholas Bulstrode

BulstrodeÂ’s story is that of an ardent religious seeker with a strong streak of materialism, who ultimately succumbs to his negative impulses. Starting out as an idealist member of a Dissenting sect, who wants to become a missionary, he ends up a manipulative banker, full of sham piety. Using his financial clout to control various traders and professionals in the town, he then poses as a morally pure and superior being and looks down on them.

The portrayal of Bulstrode is in a way a depiction of a type of religious approach, which is really crass materialism. He convinces himself that all he does is for GodÂ’s greater glory. When he accumulates profits, he believes it to be so.

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