Caleb Williams

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1794

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Volume 3, Chapters 9-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Volume 3, Chapter 9 Summary

After Captain Raymonds expelled him from the group of thieves, Gines returned to his old job in administration as a blood-hunter (358). One day, Gines saw Caleb’s wanted notice come through the department, and he took it upon himself to track down Caleb (359). Gines followed Caleb through his travels but lost track of him when he moved into a busier part of London. Gines picked up Caleb’s trail again when he was at the inn with the officers, but it soon went cold (361).

Gines manages to pick the trail up again when an old woman says that she saw someone leave an inn at nighttime. After checking, Gines finds out that no one of that description checked in (because Caleb was still dressed in his old clothes at that time) and concludes that the man was Caleb (363). Gines follows Mrs. Marney one day, suspecting that she knows where Caleb is, but she can feel that she is being followed and, after doing her best to lose Gines, goes somewhere safe and tips Caleb off (364). Caleb creates a new disguise and then leaves again in the dark (365).

Volume 3, Chapter 10 Summary

Caleb finds a new lodging (366). He goes to see Mr. Spurrel, a man who works with watchmakers and has an apartment on their second floor. He takes an immediate liking to Caleb: In his disguise, Caleb appears “twisted and deformed” and not “an object of attraction,” but Mr. Spurrel lost his only son six months before, and Caleb is the “very picture of him” (366). Caleb says that he can help Mr. Spurrel if he hires and trains Caleb. Mr. Spurrel agrees but takes 20% of Caleb’s pay for instruction and for getting him into the industry. Spurrel is charitable and denies himself every indulgence.

Caleb is out walking one night when he hears a newspaper seller yelling about a paper that has an article about Caleb (368). He finds a way to read it and is disturbed by how much information about him is public. He now knows that disguises will no longer work because the search for him has become so aggressive. He wants to get a ride on a boat to Holland but can only pay the captain half the money; he promises to return with the rest.

While waiting until morning to catch the boat to Holland, Caleb goes back to Mr. Spurrel’s. He hasn’t been there long when he hears a knock at the door: It is Mr. Spurrel and Gines. Mr. Spurrel asks Caleb to remove his clothing to prove to Gines that his deformity is real, and Caleb is forced to reveal his identity. Caleb accuses Mr. Spurrel of betraying him, and Mr. Spurrel says he had too, but that they had promised not to hurt Caleb (373).

Volume 3, Chapters 9-10 Analysis

The notice comes back into play once again in these chapters when the wanted ad circulates through the office where Gines works. Thanks to this, Gines is now an active character in the plot and is slowly becoming Caleb’s nemesis.

Letters and papers also appear when Caleb is out at night and comes across the article about him. The paper reveals new information to Caleb, including all the trumped-up charges that have been brought against him. Caleb also realizes in that moment that disguises will no longer work because too many officers will be looking for suspicious people. This is what spurs Caleb to leave what he had thought was his safe haven, changing the direction of the storyline.

Caleb’s final disguise is what forms his close relationship with Mr. Spurrel. It is an odd coincidence, and a source of back luck, that the disguise Caleb put together just so happened to look exactly like Mr. Spurrel’s late son. In the end, Mr. Spurrel is the one to bring Gines to Caleb, albeit in an attempt to prove his innocence, it is still what causes him to be arrested (372).