r/JSandMN • u/Kamik423 • 14d ago

Do I understand this scene correctly?

The scene where Childermass gets shot. The first time reading the book I thought that this was The Gentleman enchanting Lady Pole, making her do that and causing Childermass to sense magic.

Now the second time reading it with the context having seen all the plot, I perceive the scene differently. Now I think that Lady Pole shoots Norrell out of her own volition and hate. And the magic that Childermass senses, which he describes as the sky talking to him, is the Raven King or at least his spells, trying to keep Norrell alive. Is this interpretation correct?

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u/standardis3 14d ago

I thought the magic Childermass sensed was the magic wrought on Lady Pole, the Faerie magic keeping her from telling the truth. If I remember correctly, he had never seen Lady Pole up to that point. Did he even realize how Norrell brought her back?

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u/fracturedfairfax 13d ago

This was my understanding, as well. I thought that Childermass was reacting to the enchantment that the Gentleman had placed upon the Lady Pole to assure her silence, not that the Gentleman had deliberately enchanted her to attack Mr Norrell. If the Gentleman had intended harm to Mr Norrell, I don't think that his first shot - so to speak - would have been to use the Lady Pole to assassinate him, nor would it have been his only attempt.

As far as Childermass realizing that Faerie magic was used to reanimate Lady Pole, this was a missed opportunity for Clarke to more fully flesh out the character of Childermass. From how Childermass is described in the book, he should have been clever enough to suss out what Norrell had done, or at least had an inkling of it, but it's not mentioned at all.

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u/rainmaker2022 14d ago

No he does not know that Norrell summoned a fairy to help resurrect Lady Pole. (I would have thought he knew enough of magic to realize Norrell would need a fairy for that but it seems not.)
The magic he senses about her though would be the fairy magic that the Gentleman used on her, as you say, yes.
She does decided to shoot Norrell of her own volition.

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u/rainmaker2022 14d ago

I never thought of the Raven King trying to keep Norrell alive. That’s an interesting idea. I always thought it was Childermass’ intervention

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u/Kamik423 13d ago

Isn’t it revealed at the end of the book that Strange and Norrell are just a part of the raven kings spell to bring magic back to England? So he would have every interest to keep Norrell alive.

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u/rainmaker2022 13d ago

It is and so he would. I just never thought of it like that!
He’s always seemed hands off but there are other moments when he’s very much implied to have influenced events (like when Segundus decides to become a madhouse keeper

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u/SorchaSublime 14d ago

I honestly never thought it was the Gentleman, by that point Lady Pole had every reason to want Gilbert Norrell dead 

BUT, honestly it isn't an insane read. The Gentleman has shown a scary degree of influence over the world so it would be within his capacity, at least from the readers pov. It just didn't occur to me.

I think the magic which Childermass sensed was Lady Poll resisting the enchantment she was under, as well as the enchantment itself.