Question

Give the character sketch of Jerome, George, Harris and montmorancy (for 10 marks)

Answer 1

Jerome is the narrator of the novel 'Three Men in a Boat'. He is single, middle-class man living in London. He is fond of history and literature, and spends much of his time day-dreaming about the days when knights roamed the countryside of England. This day-dreaming sometimes gets him into trouble when he does not pay attention to what he is doing.

His sense of observation is quite sharp. He has a wonderful knack of describing incidents in humorous ways. He misses no opportunity to make readers laugh with his intelligent and indirect humour. He does this through his anecdotes. His description of his imagined illnesses is quite humorous! Equally humorous is his description of the Haymarket Scene, and Montomerency’s encounter with the Tom cat.

Jerome prefers country peace and serenity to city's noisy and restless life. He believes river should remain open to everyone. He condemns those who put up 'no trespassing' signs or try to restrict the use of the river. At times he gets philosophical and gives the readers some valuable gems of wisdom. For example his advice on how a man should journey through life is worth heeding.

His sensitivity comes to light when in chapter XVI he describes the pathetic incident of seeing a coprse of a young, beautiful woman. His description touches the readers’ heart; he does not hesitate satirizing society in which prevail so many evils.  

Harris’s Character

 

Harris is the funniest character in the story 'Three Men in a Boat'. His extreme ideas about certain things in life were quite funny and ridiculous. Singing was one of them. He had a conceited misconception about his singing abilities. Harris's friends who had heard him sing believe he must not be allowed to sing. Once, Harris got an opportunity to sing at a party. Everyone was quite excited to hear him sing. He surprised everyone by saying he would sing a comic song! As Harris began singing, he paid least botheration to follow the singing conventions such as correct phrasing, vocalization, maintaining proper scale and pitch of voice. While singing, he would stop in the middle of the song, and start arguing with the pianist. He would restart the song and keep on repeating just the first three lines until he forgot the song and again stop singing. Then he would start again, this time standing in front of the piano and ask the gathering to sing with him in chorus. The gathering would start singing, nobody knowing what to sing. Then the pianist would complain about Harris's song and scale. Harris would change the pianist. Thus Harris would make such a donkey of himself trying to sing a comic song!

Harris’s maze adventure at Hampton Court was another very funny incident. Harris thought the maze was too simple to be called a maze. As he went inside, he found people struggling to find their way out. He scolded them for their inability to find the way out. He told them to keep taking the first turning to the right for ten minutes, and they will find the way out. Harris began walking, taking the right turn; many people began following him. Even after walking for a long time they could not find the way out. Harris suggested they would go back and start afresh. However hard Harris tried, he could not find the way out. Finally people became angry with him, and the experienced maze keeper was called and took everyone out.

Similarly, Harris keeps amusing the readers with his funny actions and words throughout the novel.

Character Sketch of George

George is the second of the "three men" in the novel. He is a bank clerk who works on Saturdays and so joins the boarding trip up the river. It is George's idea to take the river trip. His friends are surprised that he should come up with such a sensible idea. He had large feet. He sleeps a lot. He is teased by his friends for these characteristics. His tendency to sleep in some times creates funny situations. One night, his watch stops and he wakes up in the middle of the night. He thinks that he is going to be late for work. He bathes, dresses and eats and rushes to the bus stop. But he notices that it is dark outside. Moreover, there is nobody else in the street. He cannot get back to sleep the rest of the night. George buys a banjo for the trip, imagining that he will learn to play it from a book. His friends are skeptical. They do allow him to try and the narrator describes the situation with satiric politeness. In the last section of the novel, it is George who suggests that they should cut the trip short by taking a train home. In short, George is one of the important three characters in the novel. The novel would not be half as interesting without George’s idiosyncrasies.

Answer 2

Answer:

Jerome

The narrator of the novel, most likely based on Jerome himself. J. has a dog named Montmorency, and two friends, George and Harris. He sees himself as intelligent, hard-working, and competent, but his behavior in the novel suggests otherwise. Like his friends, J. is a hypochondriac.

George

A good-natured banker, and one of J.'s best friends. Of the three men, he is portrayed as the only one who is seriously dedicated to his job. He brings a banjo on the boat trip and tries to learn how to play it.

Harris

A friend of George and J., who joins them on the trip. Although the novel's flashbacks suggest that J. and Harris (full name William Samuel Harris) have known each other for a long time, J. actually dislikes Harris a great deal. He constantly criticizes Harris for being lazy and uncultured, and writes that "there is no poetry about Harris – no wild yearning for the unattainable" (18).