what impression of jerome do you form after reading the novel "three men in a boat"? support with examples
Answers
Jerome is the narrator of the novel 'Three Men in a Boat'. He is the soul of the entire novel. He is a 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. He makes Harris and George look so funny at times that reader is left
in stitches.
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 corpse of a young, beautiful woman. His description touches the readers’ heart; he does not hesitate satirizing society in which prevail so many evils.
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. . The narrator advises men and women to keep their boat of life light with only the things that are needed. Then it will be easier to pull the boat and enjoy the voyage. In the X chapter his philosophical views on life’s sorrows are quite enlightening. Jerome is a multi-faceted personality with quite a deep knowledge about life.
Jerome is not a good cook and he would rather stay away from it if he was given a chance. This can be seen from his contribution towards making the Irish stew. This task is also an example to show how inconsistent Jerome is in performing a task. As a result, he gets bored in doing one very soon. He started peeling potatoes along with Harris as his contribution towards the Irish stew. While he initially feels that this is easy, Jerome begins to soon feel bored and dissatisfied with the job. So, he starts cutting them to pea-sized pieces.