The Chimes, is a short novel by Charles Dickens and was published in 1844. This is one among the novels in his Christmas Series, which spreads out a strong moral and social message.
The title of the novel was finalized when Dickens, happened to hear the bell at the church when winds were there and he instantly named his novel as ‘The Chimes’. The story is basically about a dream seen and the confusions that happening in the dream.
The story begins with events happening at a New Year eve. On a New Year eve, Trotty who is a ticket porter happens to read articles in a newspaper that is related to the crimes and immorality and wonders whether the middle class is so much corrupted.
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In the midst, his daughter Meg and her fiancée Richard walks in to announce their wedding for the next day. Trotty was worried about this decision, and then, their entire life changes when they face an encounter with an alderman, Cutie who is also a political economist, which leaves the father daughter and her boyfriend that they should not have existed in the first place itself.
Trotty carries a note to Sir Joseph Bowley who is an MP, on behalf Cutie. But while going, he happens see the tower door unlocked and when he climbs up to see what is happening …, he feels a spirit of bell and the goblins, reprimand for loosing faith and he is being told that he would be thrown down , for loosing faith in man’s destiny. He is being informed that he is dead and he may have to watch many scenes of his daughter and her life. Her fiancé, Richard turns alcoholic and still Meg , daughter of Trotty marries Richard , to see him get right. But unfortunately, he dies ruined and leaves back Meg and their child.
In such a state, Meg finds herself drowning with her feelings and loneliness and therefore she decides to commit suicide. She drowns herself and her child, thus committing mortal sins of murder and suicide. This essay was to bring to clarity to Trotty that man does not get indulged in a crime purposefully. Apart from the natural wickedness in certain people, sometimes man is forced to commit sins in the way life takes them and the circumstances they are in. When Trotty sees that Meg is getting ready for the jump, he tries many ways to stop her and then he sees that he is able to touch her and trying to get her back.
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Seeing all this and the last part where his daughter commits suicide and he, unable to help them, he extends his hand and wakes up to realize that the incidents that he had been seeing and the emotions that held him were all a part of a dream. He gets up only to find that, al those scary events that he went through were just a dream and he gets up to celebrate a New Year and celebrate the great day of his daughter’s life as Meg and Richard gets married the next day.
A simple story, which is not made much complicated for the normal man to read.