46 pages • 1 hour read
George Grossmith, Weedon GrossmithDiary of a Nobody
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1892A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Diary
Pooter’s diary is both a symbol of Victorian culture and a frequent source of humor supporting the theme of Taking Oneself Too Seriously. The diary is a running gag and a mark of the serialized novel.
Diaries were very popular in the Victorian age. People read published diaries, and they often wrote them. Diarists believed they were keeping a record of the times to pass along to future generations. Articles even wrote about rules for diary-keeping, including what to mention, such as visits paid and received, letters sent and received, and payments made.
Pooter shares a similar mindset with his own diary as he earnestly tells his family that he hopes they will find it an endless source of pleasure. He faithfully chronicles the comings and goings of his aptly named friends Cummings and Gowing, even when he asks himself why he bothers to record Gowing’s insults.
He also details every letter he sends or receives in the diary. He copies one sentence into the diary verbatim because it is “one of the most perfect and thoughtful sentences” he has ever written (20). He later pronounces, “It’s the diary that makes the man” (112), comparing himself to famous diarists Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn. The Grossmiths selected the diary as a device to satirize Victorian middle-class pretensions and values.
Entrances and Exits
Entrances in the novel symbolize the theme of The Absurdity of Social Aspirations, while exits symbolize the theme of Taking Oneself Too Seriously. Given the Grossmiths’ extensive experience with comedic acting, it is no surprise they use entrances and exits to lampoon their protagonist.
Entrances to Pooter’s home are made through the front and side doors, and he makes ridiculous attempts to keep the front entrance reserved for important guests and the side door for tradesmen. As always happens when Pooter tries to fawn over elites and snub tradesmen, disaster ensues. His run-ins with the grocer’s boy at various doors, for example, make him late for work, cause him to slip on a piece of cabbage, and enter the house through a window.
When Pooter tries to act superior, his exits suffer. Trying to leave a room “with silent dignity” (113), he catches his foot on the mat. He is just leaving the house when he criticizes Mrs. James to Carrie, prompting her to point out that she must put up with Gowing and Cummings. He is also about to leave the table at the East Acton Volunteer Ball when he receives the unpleasant news that he must pay for his food and drink.
In addition to his other pretensions, Pooter considers himself a great wit. His remark that “Gowing’s always coming, and Cummings’ always going” (29) alludes to both entrances and exits in a punning way. The remark also nearly costs him the friendship of both men. The Grossmiths characterize Pooter as clueless about his real lack of humor, except as an object of ridicule to others.
Names
Like their literary predecessor Charles Dickens—who named a fawning character “Slyme”—the Grossmiths often gave their characters names that described their personalities. The motif functions to heighten the novelists’ satiric intentions. Names can openly evoke a character’s nature, like the ever-cheery and encouraging Mr. Perkupp and the wealthy Murray Posh. They can also ironically suggest the opposite of a characteristic. The character Pooter remarks on this motif openly when he acknowledges that of his two best friends, “Gowing’s always coming and Cummings’ always going” (29). Another character whose name suggests the opposite of his nature is Mr. Cleanands (“clean hands”), who loses money by speculating and subsequently absconds from his firm.
The sound of words, rather than their literal meanings, also suggests a character’s qualities. In British English, a pooter is either a tool used to crimp the stiff collar popular in Elizabethan times known as a ruff, or a bottle for collecting insects. Neither object is very distinguished, and the word itself suggests negative connotations such as “putterer” and “pooh-poohing.” Lupin’s name suggests the word lupine, or wolflike, while his mother Carrie’s patience with her often absurd husband is underscored by her name: she must “carry” Pooter.
Similarly, the name Mutlar suggests mutts, animals of no clear breeding—an apt description for the Mutlar family—while Mr. Crowbillon’s last name suggests the possession of billions. The Grossmiths employ this wordplay to further establish the satirical nature of the novel.
