Of Human Bondage

Philip begins his new job. It includes room and food, although both are of poor quality. Philip’s job is “monotonous and very tiring” (511).

Philip makes some attempt to socialize with the other employees from the shop, although he has little in common with them and finds his new life to be degrading.

Philip begins to earn a bit of money and gradually pays back the Athelny family what he owes them. He also visits them every week. Philip is depressed by his new job and new life. He begins to obsessively fantasize about his uncle dying so that he can inherit some money and go back to medical school. He does not know how much he will inherit, but he hopes it will be enough. When Philip considers the possibility that his uncle might choose not to leave him anything, he resolves that he would definitely take his own life in that case.

Philip has largely severed ties with his friends, but one day he runs into Lawson by chance. Philip admits that he has dropped out of his medical training and is working in a shop. Lawson tells Philip that Hayward, who had enlisted in the Boer War, died shortly after arriving in South Africa. Philip is very saddened by this news. Philip begins to contemplate the purpose of life since it so often seems short, futile, and filled with suffering. However, as he thinks about it, he comes to a sudden realization: “There was no meaning in life, and man by living served no end” (526). Once he decides that life has no meaning, Philip feels much calmer and able to face whatever lies ahead.

Philip gradually begins to use his artistic training and talent to contribute to designs for new dresses at the shop where he works. Although he doesn’t get any credit, he is happy to have some way to exercise his creativity. Philip sometimes considers asking for more money, but he has seen other employees get fired after making this request, and he can’t risk finding himself unemployed again.

Months pass. It is now spring, and Philip has been working in the shop for almost a year. Philip’s uncle writes abruptly and invites Philip to visit Blackstable; Philip agrees to come in July. Philip can quickly tell that his uncle’s health is declining, but he doesn’t want to ask too directly about his prognosis and reveal his eagerness to get his inheritance. Philip is surprised that despite his uncle’s advancing age, Mr. Carey is clearly afraid of dying and believes that nothing is wrong with him.

Philip goes back to London and spends more and more time fantasizing about his life after his uncle dies: He’ll finish his medical training as quickly as possible and then go abroad to Spain. He often spends time discussing Spanish literature with Athelny.

In early winter, Philip receives a short note from Mildred, providing him with an address and asking him to come and see her. Although he is deeply angry with her, he goes. Mildred is living in a very run-down boarding house. She wants to ask for medical advice and is self-conscious about going to a doctor. Philip quickly examines her and confirms that Mildred has a serious disease (implied to be syphilis). He urges her to find a different type of work, but Mildred doesn’t know how she will earn a living and is very afraid of suffering and death. She begs Philip to spend time with her, and he reluctantly agrees. Mildred tells Philip that her baby died.

Philip provides medical care for Mildred and visits her often. She claims to be looking for work, but he becomes suspicious when she doesn’t seem to be concerned about money. Philip suspects that Mildred is still engaging in sex work even though she can easily pass the infectious disease to her clients. He follows her one night, confronting her when he sees that she is trying to approach clients. Mildred refuses to listen to him, telling him that “men haven’t been so good to [her] that [she] need[s] bother [her] head about them” (545). Philip finally walks away in disgust and never sees her again.

Philip goes to stay with his uncle for Christmas. It is clear that Mr. Carey is dying. Philip wonders if his uncle’s religious faith is steadfast even as he approaches death. Philip is also secretly very eager for his uncle’s death so that he can receive his inheritance. Philip even briefly considers killing his uncle—Mr. Carey is so sickly that the death could easily be passed off as natural. However, he feels very ashamed when Mr. Carey seems to be able to read his thoughts and mentions that he doesn’t want Philip to be too eager about getting his inheritance.

Months pass, and Mr. Carey is still alive. Philip feels as though “his youth [i]s going and soon he w[ill] have lost it and nothing w[ill] have been accomplished” (550). However, in July, Philip receives word that his uncle is close to death. Philip immediately quits his job at the shop and goes to Blackstable. When he gets there, his uncle is clinging to life. At first, Mr. Carey seems nervous and afraid, but after receiving a religious sacrament from another minister, he seems much calmer and at peace. Mr. Carey dies quietly on a beautiful summer day.

After Mr. Carey’s death, it is confirmed that Philip has received a moderate inheritance. As soon as he can, Philip goes back to London and registers himself to continue his medical training, which has been on hold for more than two years. While putting his uncle’s legal affairs in order, Philip pays a nostalgic visit to his old school and thinks about how his life has changed.

At the end of August, Philip returns to his medical training. He is now going through a rotation in which he delivers babies, usually in working-class or even impoverished families. Philip is kind and reassuring to his patients, and they often like and trust him more than other doctors. Philip notices that there is both suffering amongst the patients he treats and often deep love and empathy.

On the last night of Philip’s obstetric rotation, a very young woman dies giving birth to her first child. Philip is saddened by the seeming randomness of fate, but he also finds himself keenly aware of the beauty of the world.

Philip is energized and brings new enthusiasm to his medical training. He remains very close with the Athelny family, who have stood by him through everything. Thorpe Athelny’s eldest daughter, Sally, is now working as an apprentice to a dressmaker and has become very pretty. She is shy with Philip in a way that suggests she may have a crush on him. A young engineer woos Sally, and her mother is eager for her to marry someone with a stable career, but Sally rejects her suitor with little explanation.

In August, more than a year after his uncle’s death, Philip completes the last exam of his medical training. Philip hears that a doctor in a rural town in Dorsetshire is looking for a temporary assistant for a short-term contract. Philip is eager to start earning money while waiting for a longer-term position at a hospital, so he agrees to take on the job, even though he hears that Dr. South is somewhat grumpy.

Philip departs immediately and takes a liking to Dr. South. The older doctor distrusts innovation and change, but he respects hard work and resilience. Philip gradually earns the doctor’s respect, especially when it becomes clear that the patients like and trust him.

Thorpe Athelny writes to Philip and suggests that when Philip finishes his contract, he should join the Athelny family for their vacation picking hops (the location where they work is not far from Philip). Philip happily agrees. As he comes to the end of his contract with Dr. South, the older doctor surprises Philip by offering to make him a partner in his practice. This is a rare opportunity for a newly qualified doctor, but Philip turns it down because he wants to travel as soon as he saves up some money and gains a bit of experience. Dr. South can understand Philip’s choice, but he is saddened because he would like to work with Philip.

Philip arrives in the small village of Ferne, where Thorpe Athelny meets him. He is happy to see Athelny and his children and finds the countryside beautiful and peaceful.

In the evening after the first day of hop picking, Mrs. Athelny sends Sally on an errand to a local shop, and Philip offers to accompany Sally. The night is very beautiful, and Philip flirts with Sally; they kiss one another and then have sex in a secluded thicket.

The next morning, Philip is very worried that things will be awkward with Sally. He is pleased to find that she seems completely at ease with him. When he finds a moment alone with her, she assures him that she has had feelings for Philip for a long time and turned down a previous marriage request because of these feelings. That night, Philip and Sally meet up again; he is very moved by her beauty and the fact that she cares for him.

After hop picking, Philip goes back to London, where he is starting a job with a large hospital. He continues to see Sally regularly and is very happy with her companionship; however, he doesn’t think that he is in love with her.

One day a few weeks after their return to London, Sally tells Philip that she thinks she may be pregnant. Philip hurries off, overwhelmed when he thinks that his hopes of travel may come to nothing. He wonders about simply leaving Sally or offering her money, but he feels compelled to offer to marry her: “He simply could not do a thing which, notwithstanding all his reason, he felt was horrible” (605).

Philip decides to contact Dr. South and see if he can still accept the offer to become a partner in the practice. This employment will give him and Sally a comfortable life, and Philip begins to imagine a future in which they live together as a quiet and happy family.

Philip receives confirmation from Dr. South that he can start his job immediately. He goes to meet Sally at the National Gallery in central London. Sally quickly confirms that she is not pregnant after all; Philip is astonished. He has an epiphany and realizes that “it was no self-sacrifice that had driven him to think of marrying, but the desire for a wife and a home and love” (609). Philip proposes to Sally, and she agrees to marry him. They go off to begin their life together.