Thursday, August 19, 2010

In Three Men in a Boat, why did George's face suddenly go from lively to severe?

This incident happens in Chapter XI of Three Men in a Boat. After the narrator takes a dip in the river, he returns to the boat to get dressed. The shirt he starts to pull on falls into the water a bit and gets wet. George laughs at him and makes fun of the situation. Then the narrator realizes that he has made a mistake. The shirt is really George’s, and not his. When he makes his friend aware of this fact, he says:



I never saw a man’s face change from lively to severe so suddenly in all my life before.



As we may expect, George’s attitude changes immediately. He calls his friend a “silly cuckoo” and now admonishes him to be more careful. The narrator still thinks the mistake is a humorous one, and he points out this fact to the shirt’s rightful owner. George remains unmoved.

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