Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life

Mary recovers when Jem returns to Liverpool. Jem fears there is still suspicion against him and fears Mary’s meeting with her father, but Mary asks Jem to take her home. Mary and the Sturgises are sad to part, and Mary is anxious on the day she is supposed to leave. Mary makes Jem let her enter her father’s house alone. She sees John Barton and forgets about his crime, only pitying her father, who is weak and hardly speaks. She goes to see Margaret and Job and tells them that her father has come home and is ill. For some days, Mary cares for her father on her own. Sally comes to gossip with Mary, who won’t let her inside. She learns from Sally that she can get her job back if she wants it and that Jem has been turned away by his employer. Afterward, Barton speaks for the first time and asks to see Jem.

Mary meets Jem, and he tells her the rumor is true: His employer has fired him. Jem asks her if she will leave Manchester with him, and she is reminded of her father and his invitation. When Mary and Jem return to Barton’s house, they find Job and Carson there as well. Just before they enter, Barton confesses his guilt to Carson and tells him how he has wished for death since the murder. Carson apologizes to Jem as he leaves, saying he is going to the police to have Barton arrested. Mary pleads with Carson, begging him to spare the final hours of a dying man. Carson breaks down over the loss of his son.

Barton finally sees the humanity of the man he had only regarded as a cruel mill owner, and he relates to Carson after also losing his sons. Barton begs Carson’s forgiveness, but Carson can’t give it. Carson leaves, but on the way to the police office, he decides to wait until morning. On the way home, he sees a little boy run into a girl and knock her over, but the girl forgives the boy. He is inspired by this act of forgiveness and remembers the poverty he grew up in before his success. Mary and Jem take care of Barton overnight as he grows weaker. In the morning, when Jem has gone out to the druggist, Mary is surprised to be visited by Carson, without the police. Carson sees that Barton is dying and holds the man, forgiving him just before he dies.

Mary lets others take care of funeral arrangements, and Jem decides not to tell anyone of Barton’s guilt, hoping Job and Carson will keep it secret. Jem goes to his former employer, who does not believe in Jem’s guilt but thinks it best for him to leave the country and so writes a recommendation for employment. Job receives a letter from Carson, saying he wants to meet Jem and Job. Jane goes to visit Mary and they are reconciled. The narrator says that, years later, Jem will find out that during this meeting, Mary tells Jane of Barton’s guilt.

Carson meets Job and Jem. Jem tells them how Barton asked to borrow his father’s old gun just before the murder. He refused to tell his lawyer about this as he did not want to convict the best friend of his father and the father of the woman he loved. Job confirms that he did not know of Barton’s guilt until he confessed, and Barton did not know about Harry’s relationship with Mary. Job and Carson argue about Barton’s ideals, and Carson sees some of the truth behind the Chartists’ convictions. Though neither man fully convinces the other, they come to an understanding of how both classes must see the humanity in one another.

Jem arranges for him, Mary, and Jane to emigrate to Toronto. He is surprised at Jane’s willingness to leave England. One day, Mary asks Jem how he knew about her relationship with Harry, and he confesses his encounter with Esther. Knowing the truth about Esther’s life, Mary is determined to find her before they leave. Jem searches for Esther that night but discovers that she has gone somewhere to die. The next day, Mary and Jem see Esther’s face at the window. They bring her inside and she collapses, dying later that night. Esther is buried with Barton, and their tombstone is only inscribed with a psalm: “For He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger for ever” (445).

Mary and Jem are married just before they board their boat to Canada. Years later, the narrator shows them, Jane, and their son Johnnie at their home. They have just received a letter from England saying that Margaret has regained her sight and that she and Will are to marry later that month before coming to Canada with Job.