46 pages • 1 hour read
George Grossmith, Weedon GrossmithDiary of a Nobody
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1892A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Introduction-Chapter 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Introduction Summary
In the brief introduction to the fictional diary, “author” Charles Pooter asks why he should not publish a diary, considering that other people he never heard of do so. He thinks his diary is interesting even though he isn’t a “Somebody.” He says his only regret is that he didn’t start it in his youth. He notes his residence: “The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway” (5).
Chapter 1 Summary
Charles Pooter states that he and his wife, Caroline (called Carrie), have settled down in a new, rented home where he resolves to keep a diary. He describes his six-room house, with its garden and the side entrance that intimate friends always use to keep from interrupting the servant, Sarah. Pooter enjoys being at home after he finishes his work as a clerk in the City, London’s financial district. He notes that his old friend, Gowing, and neighbor, Cummings, often drop in. He is proud of their son, Willie (later called Lupin), who is getting along nicely in his work at the Bank at Oldham.
Pooter recounts visits from tradesmen and Gowing and Cummings. When Cummings falls over a paint scraper, Pooter puns that if he doesn’t remove it, he will “get into a scrape” (8); he adds that he doesn’t often make jokes. He offends the butterman, Borset, who turns up drunk and says he will never again serve City clerks like Pooter, whom he does not consider a gentleman. The next day, Borset apologizes and offers Pooter a pound of fresh butter, which mends their relationship.
Chapter 2 Summary
Pooter is again at odds with a tradesman, this time receiving loud criticism from a butcher he has decided not to patronize. The butcher cuts his foot on the scraper and threatens to sue, prompting Pooter to hire Farmerson, an ironmonger, to move the scraper. Yet another tradesman, the painter, annoys him by failing to match the color of the stairs and touching them up where the carpet doesn’t meet the walls, offering to repaint the entire staircase instead.
Pooter complains about how late some of the young clerks at his job arrive and says that if Mr. Perkupp, the principal, should hear of it, they would be fired. A clerk named Pitt tells him to “keep [his] hair on” and refuses to give Pooter the respect he demands (14). Gowing calls, and Pooter finds his friend tedious and incautious when he forgets Carrie’s presence.
The next day, Pooter argues with the grocer’s boy over using the front door and is subsequently the only clerk to be late. Mr. Perkupp observes his tardiness, but a senior clerk stands up for him. Pitt, the disrespectful young clerk, remarks on Pooter’s lateness, causing the other clerks to laugh.
Gowing drops in to smoke cigars after tea. When Gowing says he smells dry rot in the house, Pooter puns that his friend is talking dry rot, amusing himself so much that he wakes up laughing twice in the night.
Pooter goes for a Sunday walk with Cummings and Gowing, who bring a friend named Stillbrook. They decide to get some tea at a pub, but the pubs are closed until 6:00 to all but out-of-town travelers. The gateman asks each man where they are from and denies entry to Pooter because he is a local. The gateman admits the others after Stillbrook claims they are from another town to Pooter’s disgust. He refuses to speak to them when they emerge.
Pooter is greatly surprised to receive a “sharp” letter from Cummings expecting an explanation of his behavior after the others visited the pub. He replies that he forgives Cummings for his behavior and expects the same treatment. He posts the letter, congratulating himself on a “perfect” sentence.
Cummings drops by, using the front door as the grocer’s boy broke the side bell. He shakes hands with Pooter and asks if he wants to buy an expensive whiskey recently acquired by his cousin, who is in the wine trade. When Pooter says his cellar is full, Sarah arrives with a bottle of inexpensive whiskey he has just asked her to purchase.
Chapter 3 Summary
Pooter and Carrie meet Merton, Cummings’s cousin, who comes to call along with Gowing and Cummings. They discuss society, and Pooter says he and Carrie do not care for it and the expense of cabs and fine clothing is not worth the money. Merton compels Pooter to buy a dozen bottles of his whiskey. He further offers to secure theater passes for Pooter and his wife.
When Pooter wants to take Carrie and her old school friend, Mrs. James, to the theater, Merton says he cannot get passes to any of the best theaters. The tickets he does provide turn out to be no good, and Mr. James purchases new ones, to Pooter’s embarrassment. Pooter later writes a sarcastic letter to Merton. He decides to buy red paint and uses it to paint everything from flowerpots to the bathtub. He makes a pun on the names of his friends Gowing and Cummings: “Gowing’s always coming and Cummings’ always going” (29), deeply offending both.
At the office, Pitt is late again, but when Pooter tells him he will have to inform Mr. Perkupp, the younger man apologizes. Pooter later is hit in the face by a ball of paper. When he bathes the next day, the hot water dissolves the red paint, turning the water and his skin blood red. He decides to have the bath painted white.
Chapter 4 Summary
Pooter and Carrie are astonished to receive an invitation to meet representatives of trade and commerce at the mansion of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. Carrie cries with pride for her husband. Pooter learns that his employer, Mr. Perkupp, gave his name to the Lord Mayor. On the evening of the event, Pooter puts on his evening dress and then must answer the door because Sarah is busy helping Carrie dress. The greengrocer’s boy hands him cabbages and coal, and Pooter indignantly boxes the boy’s ears, then steps on a piece of cabbage and falls. He departs with Carrie for the Mansion House and speaks to the mayor. Crowds arrive, including Farmerson, the ironmonger. When Pooter says he would not have expected to see Farmerson there, the tradesman replies, “If you, why not me?” (37-38). Farmerson turns out to know one of the neighborhood’s sheriffs, and Pooter is astonished that Farmerson knows a member of the aristocracy.
Pooter and Carrie dance, and he trips because of his slippery boots. Both fall, injuring themselves. Farmerson says they are too old for dancing and invites Pooter to have a glass of wine with him. As the couple departs, Farmerson asks them to give him a ride.
Introduction-Chapter 4 Analysis
The introduction reveals that protagonist Charles Pooter lives in Holloway, a section of London that is not particularly well known. By placing Pooter here, the authors immediately underscore Pooter’s claim that he is not a “Somebody” and assert that he is the “Nobody” of the book’s title.
In addition to placing Pooter within a physical location, these early chapters reveal his character. He is snobby, wishes to be superior at work and home, and is constantly at odds with tradesmen. In a passive-aggressive manner, he refuses to move the paint scraper that serves as a running gag and causes much of the conflict in these chapters. He claims that he doesn’t make jokes, yet puns incessantly, always laughing at his jokes and insisting on sharing them with others. However, he also has positive qualities, which these chapters display. They include honesty and a predominantly tender relationship with Carrie.
These chapters introduce the novel’s significant themes and symbols. Entrances function symbolically in the novel to support the theme of The Absurdity of Social Aspirations. Pooter wants to save the front door for important guests and receive tradespeople at the side door. He takes this desire to an extreme, inevitably creating social or physical snafus for himself. Amidst the Victorian era, Pooter internalizes and operates based on the rigid social hierarchy that places landowning, aristocratic elites at the top and working-class members at the bottom. Occupying the middle class (and the lower spectrum of this social category), Pooter believes he is significantly above the working-class tradespeople he interacts with daily.
This theme is especially apparent when Pooter and Carrie attend the mayor’s ball. Pooter’s anger over the grocer’s boy behavior, slipping on the cabbages, and his failed attempt to dance with Carrie in higher-class society demonstrate that arrogance or overconfidence often have negative effects. In both cases, his snobbishness and stubborn preoccupation with upward mobility lead to a messy tumble. His exchange with the ironmonger, Farmerson, displays The Absurdity of Social Aspirations. When Pooter attempts to establish a social distance between himself and the tradesman to assert his social location, he is not only rebuked by Farmerson but is shown up when Farmerson turns out to have an aristocratic friend.
This demonstrates how working-class characters can possess the connections and characteristics Pooter lacks, highlighting the themes of The Discrepancy Between Self-Perception and the Perception of Others and Taking Oneself Too Seriously. In this example and many situations throughout subsequent sections of the novel, the Grossmiths depict Pooter as an insecure member of the lower middle class who feels he belongs in a higher class. In these failed attempts, Pooter creates further chasms in the interpersonal relationships with working-class people with whom he frequently interacts.
The diary itself symbolizes Victorian culture. Pooter’s desire to capture his daily life in the diary, however mundane, is a constant source of humor in the novel because of his lack of self-awareness. At the time, reading and keeping diaries was a common activity. While the authors created the serialized novel as a social satire, the details Pooter records also serve as a window into the world of the Victorian middle class where the minute details of the characters’ clothing, decorating, gardening, and entertaining are recorded.
Punning character names are a motif that underscores the story as satire and not realism. These chapters introduce the encouraging Mr. Perkupp and Pooter’s wife, Carrie, who must—as her name suggests—“carry” Pooter. Pooter’s pun on the names of his two best friends, Cummings and Gowing, demonstrates the significance entrances and exits will play throughout the novel and the protagonist’s lack of self-awareness.
