A Handful of Dust

“I just thought it might be fun to eat someone else’s food for a bit.”

Brenda wonders about attending a party, though Tony is not a fan of socializing. Her phrasing alludes to the affair, through her desire for a change and to move beyond the conventional boundaries of their domestic situation. At the same time, the novel is alluding to the identity of the man with whom she will have an affair, as Beaver has a reputation for attending other people’s parties and eating their food while contributing nothing of his own.

“And secondly because you were using a word which people of your age and class do not use.”

From a young age, John is educated in the expectations surrounding social class. When he uses certain words or talks in a certain way, his father disciplines him. Tony is not necessarily aware of his broader function in the social maintenance of class hierarchies, yet he is innately attuned to the language and mannerisms expected of a member of his (and his son’s) social class. He polices the boundaries of social class as part of a routine childhood education for his son, developing the theme of Social Hierarchy as a Source of Conflict.

“Owing to Tony’s feelings of guilt they had champagne for dinner, which neither he nor Brenda particularly liked.”

At dinner, champagne is served more out of expectation than desire. This display of luxury is an obligation, functioning as Tony’s way of making up for his coldness and absence earlier in the day. He parades the wealth that he knows Beaver does not possess, providing him with little treats as a patronizing way to justify his behavior. Tony uses wealth to make up for his ill-mannered behavior, unable to comprehend the devastating effect that Beaver will have on his life.

“In the week that they had been apart, each had, in thought, grown more intimate with the other than any actual occurrence warranted.”

In the time since they last met, both Brenda and Beaver have privately entertained the idea of their affair. Nothing has been explicitly stated, but their sudden awkwardness illustrates their mutual desire. They have both committed to the idea of the affair and, in their minds, become intimate through their imagination. This mental betrayal is more significant to them both than the inevitable physical betrayal.

“There were presents for all the servants, of value strictly graded according to their rank, and for all the guests.”

At Christmas time, the Last family buys presents for the servants. Like everything else in their lives, the choice of present correlates with class expectations. Even among the serving staff at Hetton, there is a hierarchy that must be respected and maintained. Even something as innocuous as gift-giving at Christmas is an opportunity to uphold existing class structures and remind everyone of their specific place within the hierarchy.

“If I know Tony, he’ll be tortured with guilt for weeks to come.”

Brenda sneaks away to London to carry out her affair and, when he tries to visit her, Tony gets very drunk. Brenda is not furious with Tony for bothering her while he was intoxicated. Rather, she delights in his embarrassment, as she knows that he will feel immense guilt for many weeks. Brenda has never considered the possibility that she should feel guilty about anything: Guilt is for other people, not something that allows her to indulge her desires.

“Occasionally there were bursts of general conversation between the women; they had the habit of lapsing into a jargon of their own which Tony did not understand; it was a thieves’ slang.”

Surrounded by Brenda and her friends, Tony feels increasingly alienated. He struggles to speak their language or relate to them, creating a greater sense of distance between himself and his wife. Without the ability to speak her language, however, he cannot address this widening gulf between them. The women’s language is “thieves’ slang,” and Tony feels like his wife is being stolen away from him.

“How English you are, Teddy—so shy of talking about personal things, intimate things.”

To satiate her guilt, Brenda puts forward her neighbor, Jenny, in the hope that Tony might also be tempted to have an affair. Tony does not take kindly to Jenny, however, especially as she keeps trying to make him discuss intimate subjects. She also forgets Tony’s name on several occasions. Jenny’s unsuitability either suggests that Brenda did not sincerely hope that Tony would have an affair or that she does not truly understand her husband.

“It was a large suite, fitted up with satin wood for King Edward when, as Prince of Wales, he was once expected at a shooting party; he never came.”

There is a room in Hetton Abbey that is remembered for the time that a member of the Royal Family might have stayed there but did not—the room is defined by something that never happened. Similarly, the affair between Brenda and Beaver comes to define the marriage between Brenda and Tony. They are shaped by the negative space of their failed marriage that might have been but was not. The room symbolizes the extent to which the marriage will continue to shape them, even after it is over.

“It wasn’t anybody’s fault. It just happened.”

In the wake of John’s death, the adults repeat to themselves that no one is to blame. They repeat these similar phrases like a mantra, as a way of wrestling with the tragic chaos of what has happened. John’s unexpected and terrible death is almost impossible to comprehend, so they resort to manners and aphorisms to create familiar structures in their lives.

“You see she’d got nothing else, much, except John.”

Tony loses his son but, in keeping with The Social Repression of Grief, assures those around him that he is most sorry for his wife, as she has so little else in her life that might distract her from the grief. Tony’s statement reveals his naivety and his innocence. Brenda is away in London, conducting her affair with Beaver, while he is at home, grieving the death of their son. In fact, it is Tony who has little else in his life. His words only encourage others to take pity on him, even while he encourages them to take pity on Brenda.

“Four men dominate your fate.”

The fortune teller delivers the same reading for each of the women, telling them that four mysterious men dominate their lives. The vagueness relies on patriarchal social expectations; all the women are dependent on men in one form or another, from fathers to husbands to lovers to sons. Nevertheless, the women having their fortunes read delight in the escapist excitement of pretending, for a moment, that their mundane lives might be enlivened by the appearance of another man. Even their wildest dreams involve one man replacing another in their lives.

“It’s really rather embarrassing for us all, Brenda coming.”

The tragedy of John’s death is soon overshadowed by the social implications of Brenda’s apparent lack of grief. She wants to continue her affair, attending parties with Beaver even though every other guest knows that her husband is at home, mourning the death of their child. The gossipy fun of the affair has gone, replaced by a dark, tawdry reality that cheapens any event in question.

“Tony did not employ the family solicitors in the matter but another, less reputable firm who specialized in divorce.”

Tony has his family lawyers, but he would not use them for something as gauche as a divorce. Instead, there are dedicated divorce firms that cater to well-to-do couples who seek to separate. The existence of these dedicated firms suggests that there is a demand for divorce among the middle and upper classes, but social etiquette dictates that it must be achieved in a specific manner. There is a process to follow, so much so that a parallel industry of dedicated divorce lawyers has sprung up to satisfy a gap in the market.

“For a month now he had lived in a world suddenly bereft of order; it was as though the whole reasonable and decent constitution of things, the sum of all he had experienced or learned to expect, were an inconspicuous, inconsiderable object mislaid somewhere on the dressing table; no outrageous circumstance in which he found himself, no new, mad thing brought to his notice, could add a jot to the all-encompassing chaos that shrieked about his ears.”

Tony had lived his life exactly as he was expected to. He married, had a child, and visited his club occasionally, behaving according to society’s expectations. Despite this, his child is dead, and his wife is gone. He struggles to deal with this because, in his mind, he cannot understand the chaotic unfurling of events. He played by the rules, he believed, yet he seems to have lost everything. The divorce and the death shake him because they were not part of his plan for life, and he fears this lack of control.

“I’ve decided exactly what’s going to happen.”

Tony had hoped for a simple divorce from Brenda and was willing to take the blame (at least legally) for the end of the marriage. The further she pushes him, however, the more he comes to realize how little she cares about him. He reaches his limit and, for the first time, asserts himself. He asserts order over his divorce and over the chaos that has consumed his life. This decisive, determined Tony is very different from the Tony portrayed earlier in the novel.

“He was the only man to dress that evening.”

On the voyage to South America, Tony is increasingly distant from his comfort zone. The further the ship sails, the further removed Tony is from the system of social etiquette that governed his life. This far from England, people have stopped dressing up for their evening meal. Tony clings to what he knows, even as his surroundings remind him of how far he has traveled from his home and his comforts.

“You said that as if you were saying good-bye.”

The brief romance aboard the ship comes to an abrupt halt once Theresa nears her homeland. This romance is little more than a fling, but Tony is being rejected once again by a woman. This time, however, Tony is searching for the signs of their relationship ending rather than being surprised (as he was in the case of Brenda asking for a divorce). Tony is more mature and more cynical as he becomes more experienced.

“Jock left the House that afternoon with the comfortable feeling that he had at last done something tangible in the interest of his constituents.”

Throughout the novel, Jock has stated his interest in pigs on the behalf of his constituents. As a politician, he feels obliged to address an issue that his constituents feel strongly about. After so long educating himself, however, his influence amounts to little more than raising a question and then congratulating himself on how much he cares. Jock’s vague and ineffective manner of politicking illustrates the disconnect between the political class and their constituents.

“They had chosen these things together at a cheap store in Oxford Street.”

Tony and Messinger visited a toy store to purchase trinkets for their travels. Rather than trying to hire local guides based on anything valuable, their patronizing mindsets dictate that the locals will be fascinated by simple cheap toys. The locals are intrigued, but the Englishmen’s plan fails when the locals vanish altogether. The patronizing Englishmen are punished for their demeaning attitudes.

“I’m in love with John Beaver. I’m in love with John Beaver. I’m in love with John Beaver.”

Tony is in a feverish state. The hallucinations haunt him, with a vision of Brenda appearing before him to declare her love for Beaver. At this low point, Tony is haunted by her betrayal, forced by his fevered mind to replay an imagined scene repeatedly. This repeated declaration of love is mental torture that accompanies the physical torture brought on by the fever.

“I suppose so. I’ve never really thought about it much.”

England of the interwar era is not a particularly religious society. Tony suffers through a divorce, the loss of his child, and a terrible experience in the jungle without ever thinking about anything spiritual. To Tony, religion is almost incidental. He simply does not think about spiritual matters, even when he is close to death, as something as personal and as sincere as religion seems almost gauche or ill-mannered to think about.

“I must have been tight last night.”

Tony nearly died in the jungle, thousands of miles from his home, but he cannot leave England behind. After Mr. Todd poisons him and hides him from the search party, Tony wakes up with the same feeling of hungover guilt that struck him when he stayed too long in his clubs. He uses the language of his homeland to comprehend what has happened to him in this unknown place, even though this is much worse.