Novel Review – Element of Drama of AJ Cronin’s Hatter’s Castle Novel

1. Theme

It was about a dictator man who had destroyed his family with his dictatorial manner.

2. Main Characters

1) James Brodie: He was a dictator. He was a big and powerful man, over six feet in height. He had three children and one old mother. He had bad behavior in treating the others, especially his family.

2) Mary Brodie: She was a pretty girl of seventeen. She loved her family very much, but she hated his father’s behavior. She was the only one who dared to disobey his father.

3) Matthew Brodie: He was twenty-four years old. He was thin and had a pale-face. He also hated his father, but he didn’t dare to disobey him until he had gone to India. He became brave man.

4) Dr. Renwick: He was a young man and new doctor in Levenford. He had helped Mary to get a better life. He also loved Mary very much and finally he married her.

5) Dennis Foyle: He was Mary’s boyfriend who had made Mary pregnant. He wanted to marry Mary, but Mary’s father hated him and refused his wish. He had died on the train accident.

3. Settings

1) Setting of time: Around the year of 1879.

2) Setting of place: Levenford (the Lowlands of Scotland).

4. Summary of The Story

There was Brodie’s family who lived in a big castle in Levenford, Lowlands of Scotland. It was unusual family. It was scared by its neighbours. It was because the father of the family was very dictatorial. He was James Brodie. He had three children and one old mother, grandma. He was very dictatorial and very proud of himself. He was always proud of his money and his home, the Hatter’s castle.

One day, there was a mistake which had been made by Brodie’s first daughter, Mary Brodie. She was pregnant, but he had not married yet. She tried to hide it, but finally her father knew it and threw her away from home. She did not know where to go, she almost sunk in the river. Then her child was born, but her child died because of this accident. In this accident Mary was helped by Dr. Renwick. His boyfriend did not know all about this. He was Dennis Foyle. He also died on the train accident at the same time his child died.

Then Matthew Brodie, the only son of Brodie, also left home to India to work with Sir John Latta. But, actually he did not want to do it. After few months, he came back home and become a drunker. His mother, Margaret Brodie, worried about his condition and then she got sick. She got cancer and died. With this two accidents, James Brodie still did not change his manner. He was still rude and impatient.

Finally, his beloved daughter, Nessie Brodie, also died. She hanged herself because she was scare of being failed in winning the Latta Scholarship. She did not want to meet her father and decided to hang herself. At this time Mary had been back home and she was also helped by Dr. Renwick. Then Mary left Brodie’s castle and life happily with Dr. Renwick.

At the end, Matt and Nancy, James’s new girlfriend, went to America. And there were just James and Grandma who lived in Hatter’s Castle.

5. Moral Message

The moral significance of the story is that we can’t force someone else to do what we want, because perhaps it is not good for us and for somebody else. We always have to accept the others’ opinions and we can’t give up to fight something bad, like a dictator.

The psychological significance of the story is that, sometimes we have to bear what we want to say and to do just to make everyone around us happy. We can’t give up to fight something bad. We have to be stronger.

The social significance of the story is that, we have to give respect to the others and always make everyone happy as could as we could. We lived in this world are not alone. We always need the others, especially our family. We can’t survive without their supports.

Copyright (c) Ahmad Alim Aziz