The Pupil
Henry James presents vague, but conclusive depictions of the three characters in his story “The Pupil”, as well as the nature of the relationships between them. Mrs. Moreen is mother to Morgan Moreen, whom she treats more as an uneducated imbecile, while Pemberton is a peevish young man searching for work under the hand of slick Mrs. Moreen. The tone and point of view provided in the story reveals the image and weaknesses of all three characters.
The arrogant nature of Mrs. Moreen and the shy, timid demeanor of her son leave Pemberton uneasy and introverted during his meeting discussing his duties as Morgan’s tutor, as shown by the narrator. Pemberton hastily waits for Mrs. Moreen’s to enlighten him on his salary on the job; information she does not disclose clearly. With the sole relation of an employee to Mrs. Moreen, Pemberton is too hesitant to request his wages, and ignores the manner. As the meeting concludes, Mrs. Moreen has yet to divulge Pemberton with his earnings, therefore inducing him to inquire an answer. One could surmise that perhaps Mrs. Moreen, a faux aristocrat, has not released the information due to the fact she has no intentions of paying Pemberton, or because the pay will be minuscule. Mrs. Moreen replies “Oh, I can assure you that all that will be quite regular” (line 70), leaving Pemberton to ponder what is “regular” for the salary of a tutor. The wide range of point of views and tones provided by James left the reader with a vast variety of incarnations.
Although Mrs. Moreen speaks and treats her son like a slave, Pemberton analyzes Morgan to have underlying intelligence. At first glance, Morgan looks at Pemberton with confusion and Pemberton finds that with the boys “big mouth and big ears he really couldn’t be called pretty” (line 52). Right as Pemberton is introduced to Morgan’s presence, he concludes he must teach the boy to address his mother in a more suitable tone than the peevish way he did after not being able to retrieve her
The arrogant nature of Mrs. Moreen and the shy, timid demeanor of her son leave Pemberton uneasy and introverted during his meeting discussing his duties as Morgan’s tutor, as shown by the narrator. Pemberton hastily waits for Mrs. Moreen’s to enlighten him on his salary on the job; information she does not disclose clearly. With the sole relation of an employee to Mrs. Moreen, Pemberton is too hesitant to request his wages, and ignores the manner. As the meeting concludes, Mrs. Moreen has yet to divulge Pemberton with his earnings, therefore inducing him to inquire an answer. One could surmise that perhaps Mrs. Moreen, a faux aristocrat, has not released the information due to the fact she has no intentions of paying Pemberton, or because the pay will be minuscule. Mrs. Moreen replies “Oh, I can assure you that all that will be quite regular” (line 70), leaving Pemberton to ponder what is “regular” for the salary of a tutor. The wide range of point of views and tones provided by James left the reader with a vast variety of incarnations.
Although Mrs. Moreen speaks and treats her son like a slave, Pemberton analyzes Morgan to have underlying intelligence. At first glance, Morgan looks at Pemberton with confusion and Pemberton finds that with the boys “big mouth and big ears he really couldn’t be called pretty” (line 52). Right as Pemberton is introduced to Morgan’s presence, he concludes he must teach the boy to address his mother in a more suitable tone than the peevish way he did after not being able to retrieve her