write the summary of the salary drawing boat
Answers
Answer:
The three men move on to the important question of what food to take with them. They agree they should take a methylated spirit stove, because when they last used paraffin oil it spilled everywhere and ruined their trip. Everything had stunk of oil, even the cities and sights they visited along the journey.They think of plenty of food to take but agree not to bring any cheese. Like the paraffin oil, it tends to “make too much of itself” and give everything—even the apple pie—a cheesy flavor. This prompts J. to tell an anecdote about one of his friends
His friend buys a couple of “ripe and mellow” cheeses with a “two-hundred horse power scent…that could knock a man over at two hundred yards.” This friend asks J. if he would transport the cheeses back from Liverpool to London for him, and J. agrees. He then takes a horse-drawn cab to the station and the smell of the cheeses makes the horse run scarily fast to try and get away from the odor. At the station, people try and avoid the smell. On the train, they complain and vacate the seats surrounding J.
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Three Men in a Boat: Chapter 4
Summary & Analysis
The Romanticization of Nature Theme Icon Work and Leisure Theme Icon Manners, Etiquette, and Appearances Theme Icon History and Heritage Theme Icon Themes Key
Summary Analysis
The three men move on to the important question of what food to take with them. They agree they should take a methylated spirit stove, because when they last used paraffin oil it spilled everywhere and ruined their trip. Everything had stunk of oil, even the cities and sights they visited along the journey.
Food plays an important role throughout the book. The men’s main concern is often when, where, and what their next meal will be. They want to eat a food of a certain standard—luxury, even—but it proves time and again to be impractical for the trip. The paraffin oil ruined their last trip because it reminded them of the city, seeping everywhere and spoiling the illusion of their return to nature.
THEMES
The Romanticization of Nature Theme Icon Work and Leisure Theme Icon Manners, Etiquette, and Appearances Theme Icon
They think of plenty of food to take but agree not to bring any cheese. Like the paraffin oil, it tends to “make too much of itself” and give everything—even the apple pie—a cheesy flavor. This prompts J. to tell an anecdote about one of his friends.
Cheese is again not one of the most practical items that the men could choose to take with them. It doesn’t respond well to being damp and can easily make everything else taste of cheese, as J. knows. At least the men have some practical awareness.
THEMES
Manners, Etiquette, and Appearances Theme Icon
His friend buys a couple of “ripe and mellow” cheeses with a “two-hundred horse power scent…that could knock a man over at two hundred yards.” This friend asks J. if he would transport the cheeses back from Liverpool to London for him, and J. agrees. He then takes a horse-drawn cab to the station and the smell of the cheeses makes the horse run scarily fast to try and get away from the odor. At the station, people try and avoid the smell. On the train, they complain and vacate the seats surrounding J.
J.’s friend has bought cheese because it’s a luxury item, but he hasn’t factored in quite how smelly it is. Spending money on cheese shows that his friend has disposable income to spend for pleasure. Unfortunately for J., as its transporter, the cheese becomes a source of embarrassment. Considering how preoccupied J. and the other men are with their own presentation, being embarrassed is one of the worst things that could happen to them.
THEMES
Work and Leisure Theme Icon Manners, Etiquette, and Appearances Theme Icon
Arriving in London, J. takes the cheeses to his friend’s wife. She can’t stand the odor either. She wonders if she can pay someone to take them away, or if J. could keep them. He says he can’t because they might offend his landlady (also because of the smell). As a solution to get away from the cheeses, his friend’s wife checks into a hotel with her children, making the total amount of money spent on the cheeses very high. When J.’s friend eventually returns to London, he can’t stand the cheeses either and buries them at the seaside.