Volume two of Caleb Williams opens with the aftermath of Mr. Collins’ gathered history on Falkland. Caleb begins to worry that Falkland is guilty of Tyrrel’s murder, and he begins to spying on Falkland. After an intrusive discussion and backhanded questioning, it becomes even more apparent that Falkland is Tyrrel’s murderer. But Falkland cannot dismiss Caleb from his services because it could then confirm Caleb’s suspicion even more so. After stumbling upon a letter to Falkland from Mr. Hawkins, Caleb again confronts Falkland, insinuating he knows about the murder, which pushes Falkland even closer to the edge. Falkland calls Caleb into his office, demanding Caleb speak his mind and tell Falkland what he knows. Caleb does so, and Falkland expresses how miserable he has been since the trial, making Caleb feel terrible for the accusations he has set forth. However, Caleb is still suspicious and thinks Falkland might be the murderer. Since their talk, Falkland has had more fits of insanity, further confirming Caleb’s allegations. Caleb decides to, once again, confront his master, but only when he has acquired substantial evidence. There is a fire on the premises and Caleb decides to go inside to help rather than be a bystander. He is drawn to the private apartment, and a trunk inside that he’s noticed before. Caleb breaks it open, but Falkland enters as soon as he begins to look at its contents. Falkland grabs a piston and holds it to Caleb’s head, but changes his mind immediately and discards the item. Shortly after, Falkland calls for Caleb in his office. Falkland finally admits to the murder, but forces Caleb to keep this secret to himself and continue working for Falkland.
Not too long after, Mr. Forester visits the premises, and abruptly leaves sooner than his visit had entailed. He returns a few weeks later and secretly meets with Caleb; he is concerned for Caleb’s happiness and inquires about Caleb and Falkland’s relationship. Caleb admits he is miserable, but cannot leave Falkland’s service. In return, Forester offers him a place to stay whenever Caleb is ready to leave. Suddenly, Falkland walks in on their meeting, but does not berate Caleb in front of Forester. Instead, Caleb is left with his thoughts and fear about the repercussions of his consultation. He writes a letter to Falkland, expressing his desire to quit. Naturally, Falkland refuses and states that Caleb is to be his servant forever. Caleb decides to flee the Falkland residency, and venture out into the world.
After reaching his destination and settling in an inn, Caleb notices friends of Falkland’s in the area, and worries his location will soon be discovered by Falkland himself. He is confronted by a bearer, who gives him a letter from Valentine Forester. To Caleb’s surprise, he has been asked to return to Falkland’s estate to prove his innocence. If he does not return, he will be convicted as guilty. Eager to clear his name, Caleb agrees to go with the bearer, regardless of the consequence.
Caleb meets with Forester and Falkland the next morning to discuss the charges. Falkland accuses Caleb of stealing from him on the day of the fire. He calls upon his servant Robert as a witness, and Robert lies for Falkland. The servants produce the stolen jewels and it is obvious Caleb will be convicted as guilty. Even Forester, who initially seemed to be on Caleb’s side, could not argue with the evidence shown. After Caleb states he’s innocent, and that Falkland knows he is innocent, the case against him becomes even worse. He is sent off to county jail, with no friends or allies on his side.
The excerpt from Reflections on the Revolution in France 1790 opens with the slaughter of the royal family and bishops. The author, Edmund Burke, reflects on this, and what it says about humans and humanity. It seems as if he strongly disagrees with the murders, but also knows that they were for the best. Burke even goes on to say that the king and queen were merely humans, and humans are killed everyday. What makes these two humans any more important than all the others? However, Burke clearly opposed mob rule, and preferred the rule of a singular leader, although this leader should represent the public’s wants and needs. He believed that everyone was entitled to their own prejudice, meaning their own right to determine what is right or wrong. But within that, people needed to come to a mutual consensus, led primarily by the state.
Within his writing, it seems as if Burke is conflicted on what he thinks is morally right and just. It is difficult to find the perfect balance not only in a country, but as humans living our lives everyday. We are constantly forced to make difficult decisions, and to then make the “right” decision is a matter of what we think is right, or a majority of the world thinks is right. There are many factors to take into consideration when making life decisions. This ties into our topic of Frankenstein this semester because of our focus on humanity. Being able to make choices and have opinions on subject matter is a part of humanity, and makes us who we are. Even William Godwin touches on this topic in volume two of Caleb Williams, when Caleb decides to return to the Falkland estate in order to clear his name. He could have easily continued to flee from his master, but he felt that he needed to defend himself and confront the situation.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think the government should strongly listen to the public’s demand? Or should there be some sort of limitation on how laws/governmental action come into existence?
- Did Caleb make the right decision to come back and clear his name?
- Should we make our decisions solely based on what we feel is wrong or right? Or should the outside world have some sort of influence?
A government’s purpose, why it exists at all, is to protect and keep the peace of a population of people and their resources, and thus should serve their interests. However, sometimes the general population just does not know what is best for them and their environment, or cannot enforce moral conduct without laws and punishments for breaking them. Insofar as a government is still able to enforce things and make informed, thoughtful decisions, mob-rule should be prevented, but if that is not the case, some correction must take place, or distrust may give way to noncompliance and rebellion.
There are no decisions that come without consequences. When debating whether or not to take an action, while morality (what is right and wrong) is a large part of it, one must also recognize the possible results or reaction to that decision, either for oneself or on others. Wise decisions are a balance of these two forces: morality and awareness.
You raise some interesting questions here about how we act on our moral impulses. I’d like to complicate your third question: do we even have an innate sense of right and wrong, or are our morals shaped entirely by our experience of the external world? Godwin uses the word “compelled” a lot in Caleb Williams — as when Raymond ends his debate with Caleb by declaring that he is “compelled to go on in folly, having once begun.” Is there even any room for the development of an independent sense of morality in this system, or are all the characters destined to perform the roles assigned to them by a society that cannot adapt?
I do think that the government should listen strongly listen to the public’s demand, because the support of the people is what allows legislation to be effective. If the people don’t believe in the laws, they will not follow them.
I think that there are many people in this world that are not “wired” properly. Their moral compass is broken and as a result their ability to make a good decision is not going to be always correct. Tis means that there should be some sort of influence from the outside world on how we make our decisions. Take something as simple as driving. If we left it up to each individual to determine the appropriate speed to travel at, when to stop and not stop, and when a person is such a bad driver that they should not be driving do you really think that we would all agree on the specifics? There would be those that were so afraid to drive they would drive at 5 MPH down the road and cause so much traffic that getting anywhere would be impossible and then there are those that would travel at 60 MPH down a residential side street probably injuring or killing someone because of irresponsible decisions. A government helps create a set standard off rules for all to follow. The goal of these should be safety for all and protection of the individuals rights and property. Do I think that the rules are always interpreted in the legal system properly? NO! However there are ways for us to change the rules so if someone had such strong feeling against current legal proceedings then they should enter the world of law or politics, or both, and work towards improving the laws and improving life. Complaints without out appropriate and proper action are just useless noises.
Government should listen to the public demand, however, sometimes the public has a mob rule mentality which may not think rationally. There should be some sort of check and balance to have fair and just people making major decisions, doing the right thing despite it may being unpopular.
Caleb may have seen the decision as right to clear his name by going back on trial because he is innocent and he has the hidden secret that Falkland was the murderer. However, it may not have been the smartest thing to do since Falkland has tremendous influence and power.
We should make our decisions on both what we feel is right and wrong and what the outside world thinks. Whenever we choose to do something, we have to take into account the consequences of our actions and that may conflict with our personal moral standard.
Do you think the government should strongly listen to the public’s demand? Or should there be some sort of limitation on how laws/governmental action come into existence?
I do believe the government should listen to the publlics demand more because then society will feel better and theyll act feel like their voice is being heard. At the sme time not eveything socity is saying can be taken care of because we do ned some type of balance, therefore there will be some limitation on how laws can come into existence. But i do believe government should listen to existence more especially now in this generation.
Caleb made the right decision to go and clear his name. This is because he had a chance not to. But for the need to do what is right as opposed to doing the wrong thing compelled him to go. The problem is that he caused his own problems by not reporting the fact that his master is a murder even after getting the facts. This little mistake will cost him a jail term.