Review Novel Klasik North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

North and South is a Victorian realism novel written by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is quite dark and satire, but spiced up by romance. The story begins in South, the protagonist Margaret Hale has lived happily in beautiful southern village, Helstone. She was the daughter of a Clergyperson, but suddenly her father leaves the Church of England because his unexplained doubts and cricis conscience, so he decided to become a tutor in a nothern town, Milton. 

Milton is an industrial town that is mostly in cotton manufacturing. The Milton atmosphere dominates the main story, most of the smokiness and pollution. It's opposite from southern Helstone which is clearer, greener and fresher. There is a wealthy and influential manufacturer, John Thornton, master of Marlborough Mills, whose destiny is intertwined with Margaret. John Thornton is one of Mr. Hale's student. Margaret and Thornton are at odds with each other. He saw the beauty of Margaret, but was annoyed with her initial prejudice.

‘A more proud, disagreeable girl I never saw. Even her great beauty is blotted out of one’s memory by her scornful ways.’  (John Thornton, Pg. 99)

https://www.morganodriscoll.com/art/laurence-stephen-lowry-industrial-town/57184

Margaret finds the town of Milton is strange, the new condition that she must deal with. She is upset by its poverty and dirty environment. The poor people of the south are not as terrible as in the north. Margaret befriends the daughter of the worker, Bessy Higgins. When Bessy worked at a cotton mill, she was too polluted by the 'fluff'. The workers must face dangerous working condition at the cotton mill.

‘Fluff,’ repeated Bessy. ‘Little bits, as fly off fro’ the cotton, when they’re carding it, and fill the air till it looks all fine white dust. They say it winds round the lungs, and tightens them up. Anyhow, there’s many a one as works in a carding-room, that falls into a waste, coughing and spitting blood, because they’re just poisoned by the fluff.’ ( Page 118)

Margaret tried to please herself by talking with Bessy, Since then, Margaret became concerned about poverty and the health of manufacturing workers, and then, she had the opportunity to hear about the strike (the workers refuse to work) from the perspective of a working family. Because her father was a good friend of John Thornton, Margaret became close to the Thornton family. She met Mrs. Thornton, John's mother and his sister, Fanny. Gaskell shows two sides and two points of view between the workers and the masters. We see the way the workers view their masters, and what the workers thought about the master.

....Th’ women are as bad as th’ men, in their savageness, this time. Food is high,—and they mun have food for their childer, I reckon. Suppose Thorntons sent ’em their dinner out,— th’ same money, spent on potatoes and meal, would keep many a crying babby quiet, and hush up its mother’s heart for a bit!’ (Bessy, pg. 177) 

‘Yes; the fools will have a strike. Let them. It suits us well enough. But we gave them a chance. They think trade is flourishing as it was last year. We see the storm on the horizon and draw in our sails. But because we don’t explain our reasons, they won’t believe we’re acting reasonably. We must give them line and letter for the way we choose to spend or save our money...."

'Do you give your servants reasons for your expenditure, or your economy in the use of your own money? We, the owners of capital, have a right to choose what we will do with it.' (John Thornton, pg. 137)

Technological advances that drove the industrial revolution made entrepreneurs gain multiple profits, with very fast and large production. The workers in the north were no longer slaves, they worked with machines. But workers are humans, not machines. If there's something that they disagree with the master, they must riot and rebel because it's the only way the master would hear. If they united, they have the power to shut down industrial. So, this could be a weapon against the master when they want a higher wage.  

The North and South is not only about northern versus southern, but also about master versus workers. If it was a competition, who would be the winner? If there's any win-win solution to both of the welfare? The balance of industry lies in the workers and masters. A mill cannot run without a master, and a master can not operate a mill alone. Master and workers are like a symbiosis mutualism. They must work together to achieve the balance. But, the thing is, how the master treats them. Do they treat as a slave or just mere machines?

‘Mr. Thornton,’ said Margaret, shaking all over with her passion, ‘go down this instant, if you are not a coward. Go down and face them like a man. Save these poor strangers, whom you have decoyed here. Speak to your workmen as if they were human beings. Speak to them kindly. Don’t let the soldiers come in and cut down poor-creatures who are driven mad. I see one there who is. If you have any courage or noble quality in you, go out and speak to them, man to man.’ (Margaret, pg. 209)

I think Margaret's existence in Milton could be a mediator between master and workers. She is strong-minded, incredibly cares for working-class people, but she is very bold when she speaks about humanity and poverty to upper-class people. The story about poverty caught the reader's sympathy. What I like about John Thornton is, he is a family man. I admire his hard work from zero to become a successful businessman. He is a figure who puts his mother first, quite like mama's boy but he is a kind of man who doesn't talk much but acts. There's a character that I do not quite like. She is Mrs. Hannah Thornton, because she was underestimated Margaret, she considers Margaret a peny-less woman and do not equal to her son. 

This is my first experience reading Elizabeth Gaskell novels. So long I've been curious about her writing. I really enjoyed my reading process. Obviously, it's not disappointing, I love it so much, it's really expanding my 19th Victorian reading which I like the most. Sure, I will read many of her masterpieces novels in the future.

Fun fact: Elizabeth Gaskell wanted the novel to be titled after the heroine, Margaret Hale, but Charles Dickens, the editor of this series, insisted on North and South.

Rating Ruang Buku Megga : ✬✬✬✬✬ (5/5)

​Title : North and South

Author : Elizabeth Gaskell

Publisher : Penguin Popular Classics

Year :  1994
Pages :  521 pages

ISBN : 9780140620191