What’s Going on With Netley?

I’m rereading From Hell because of the TCJ column I plan to do about Watchmen. Sorry to say, the book is hard going this time around. Maybe my blood sugar is low.

Last night I finished the classic fourth chapter, in which the villainous Dr. Gull tours London sights and expounds on their hidden significance to his coachman, Netley. Meanwhile, Netley gets more and more queasy-like in his guts, until finally he has to vomit. Dr. Gull is eating grapes, and later he will feed poisoned grapes to his victims, but these grapes aren’t poisoned and he doesn’t give any to Netley. Maybe he slipped something into Netley’s food when they had lunch at the tavern, enough to give his system a shake but not to kill him. But why?

Most likely the situation comes clear later in the book. For now, though, I feel like I have one more gnat flying around my head. When I’m digging a Moore work, I love seeing how all the mysteries, plot threads, and symbols juggle themselves together. But right now I just feel hapless and irritated.

0 thoughts on “What’s Going on With Netley?

  1. Are you asking why Netley’s sick? When I read the book years ago, I think my assumption was that he was just so deeply upset and shocked by what Gull was telling him that it made him unwell.

  2. Well, yes, I am asking why Netley is sick. Damn, this is the third time someone has indicated they didn't understand one of my posts. I've got to check my Strunk & White.

  3. I haven’t read the book in a few years, but based on my memory, I would concur with Anonymous as to the cause of Netley’s nausea.

  4. Personally, I doubt it. Netley doesn’t get much of what’s said to him. At the end of the London jaunt he protests about black magic, but he’s urping and getting queasy all thru the ride, long before any fraction of Gull’s meaning can break in on him.