Caleb Williams

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1794

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Volume 2, Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Volume 2, Chapter 7 Summary

Mr. Forester, Ferdinando’s elder brother on his mother’s side, comes to stay at the property until his house, 30 or so miles away, was ready for habitation after long disuse. Ferdinando tries to talk him out of visiting, as the two men do not get along and “scarcely [have] one point of contact in their characters” (221), but he is unsuccessful. Mr. Forester has an “acidic” demeanor and a short, angular figure with sunken eyes and bushy eyebrows (219). The two men quickly realize they are better off staying out of each other’s way.

Mr. Forester takes an interest in Caleb, impressed by his curiosity and malleable mind, and Mr. Forester’s rough personality of Forester appeals to Caleb (223). As the two men grow closer, Ferdinando notices and gets upset. Ferdinando tells Caleb that he must not speak to Mr. Forester anymore. Caleb is depressed, as he feels he has no freedom or privacy with Ferdinando constantly watching him; he initially ignores the order, but Ferdinando threatens to ruin Caleb if he doesn’t stop seeing Mr. Forester (225). Caleb complies, and Mr. Forrester leaves once his house was ready, still without answers as to Caleb’s new distance (226).

Volume 2, Chapter 8 Summary

Ferdinando sends Caleb on some business at an estate 50 miles away. As he rides, he contemplates his predicament and determines that he must escape from Ferdinando and then figure out how to deal with the repercussions (227). Caleb gets lost on his way back to Ferdinando’s and ends up at Mr. Forester’s by pure coincidence. Mr. Forester invites him in, and the two talk: Caleb explains that he does not want to work for Ferdinando anymore without fully explaining why. Mr. Forester hints that he could talk to Ferdinando on Caleb’s behalf, but Caleb begs him not to (229). Caleb knows what Ferdinando will do if he tries to leave, so he asks Forester to promise to help if something bad happens (229).

Unexpectedly, Ferdinando shows up at Mr. Forester’s (230): Mr. Forester forgot that they had planned to meet at the inn. Caleb knows that Ferdinando will not believe him if he says that he is visiting Mr. Forester by chance. Mr. Forester tells Ferdinando what he and Caleb talked about and gives his opinion on it; as he does, Caleb leaves when Ferdinando tells him to do so (231).

Caleb writes Ferdinando a letter telling him that he’s quitting: He asks why he should stay if Ferdinando is going to punish him forever but also asks for his forgiveness (233). After reading the letter the following day, Ferdinando tells Caleb that he will never quit his service alive. Ferdinando continues to threaten him, telling Caleb that he has no idea what Ferdinando is capable of (235). Once back in his room, Caleb decides to run away and hides his things in a small apartment attached to his room through a tiny door—a place he believes that only he knows about.

Volume 2, Chapters 7-8 Analysis

Curiosity plays a large role in Chapter 7, bringing together Mr. Forester and Caleb, as the former enjoys that quality the most in Caleb. This friendship heightens the tension that has been building between Ferdinando and Caleb throughout Volume 2. Caleb, knowing Ferdinando’s secret, makes his master nervous by getting close to his half-brother. Ferdinando is worried that Caleb may say something that he shouldn’t, but Caleb believes that he also is determined to be miserable and wants others to share in his misery. This suggests another explanation for why Ferdinando wants to prevent Caleb from leaving—not just to protect his secret, but to have a companion in his suffering.

Letters again feature as a plot device, with Caleb writing with the hope that Ferdinando will finally let him go (233-34). As with Hawkins’s letter, Caleb leaves this letter out for Ferdinando to find rather than delivering it directly; he is too nervous to give it to Ferdinando. The letter is what brings the conflict between Ferdinando and Caleb to its boiling point when Ferdinando tells Caleb that he can’t leave his service. It is this conversation that finally pushes Caleb over the edge into wanting to run away, leaving all of his things behind to flee in the night. Darkness returns as a symbol of concealment as Caleb uses it to escape from Ferdinando’s estate.

Luck is a motif that reappears throughout the novel. There are many instances during his life where Caleb just appears to be a victim of bad luck, either stumbling his way into something that he shouldn’t have or accidentally causing problems when trying to get out of his predicaments. When Caleb happens upon Mr. Forester in the inn, it seems like a moment of serendipity, but it soon turns into misfortune as Ferdinando just so happens to show up and catches him.