The Mill on the Floss

Part 2 reveals more about Tom’s characterization and his relationship with the world around him. Part 2 also presents an alarming plot twist that shifts the tone and themes of Eliot’s novel.

In these chapters, Tom is characterized as an active and energetic young man. He enjoys boisterous physical activities such as sports and fights, while struggling to keep up with the academic regimen at Mr. Stelling’s school. Ironically, Tom would like to take over his father’s business, as he enjoys being in the countryside and performing manual labor, but Mr. Tulliver does not consider what Tom wants. Tom’s pride in his traditionally masculine pursuits is threatened by the introduction of Philip Wakem, who has a physical deformity but is intelligent and does better in school than Tom. Instead of developing a balanced friendship in which one boy complements and teaches the other, they develop annoyances that turn into resentments—their conflict mirrors the conflict that is brewing between their fathers due to the lawsuit.

Tom’s struggles in school are also rooted in Mr. Stelling’s expectations of him, some of which are rooted in his expected gender role. In Mr. Stelling’s view, Tom is a boy and therefore inherently and intrinsically capable of learning Euclid, geometry, Latin, and the other high concepts Mr. Stelling teaches. That Tom is unable to grasp these concepts is, to Mr. Stelling, impossible to fathom. Given all of Tom’s privileges as a wealthy young man, it is his duty to fulfill his education and work towards meeting his father’s expectations. Just as Maggie is constricted by society’s expectations for her, so too is Tom by the expectation that he will conform to Mr. Stelling and Mr. Tulliver’s ideas of manhood.

In these chapters, the link between education and social mobility is also explicit. In a society in which education is a means of social advancement, people like Mr. Tulliver feel insecure about their own lack of formal schooling. This insecurity and a desire for a better future for his son leads Mr. Tulliver to push Tom into attending school with Mr. Stelling even though Tom is ill-suited for it. Mr. Tulliver’s legal woes in pursuing his lawsuit against Pivart also reveal some of the underlying tensions and risks that men like Mr. Tulliver face against the backdrop of the rapidly-changing economy: Mr. Tulliver hopes that, by educating Tom, Tom will be able to escape the traditional rural life and pursue another career altogether, suggesting that the traditional rural life is coming under pressure.

In the background of Tom’s suffering is the drama unfolding in his home. Mr. Tulliver wants to sue over water rights in his area, but everyone is nervous for him to get into a lawsuit. Reputation is important in rural communities and involving legalities instead of settling scores and conflicts between men is seen as dishonorable, disreputable, and full of risk. Bessy discusses her husband’s issue with his sister, and both women agree that the difficulty with marriage is that a woman must watch her husband engage in risk without providing her own input or opinion. Bessy’s sister’s warnings about her husband leaving her in ruin turn out to be true; Tulliver’s ire at the situation over the irrigation systems causes him to make an ill-advised decision to sue which ends in his family’s ruin. Eliot uses this predicament to imply that if marriage were more of a partnership, in which both man and woman consider one another’s views, foolish and life-destroying situations can better be avoided.

When Maggie visits and meets Philip, she sees that Philip is good and interesting, but she also pities him for his physical deformity. Maggie and Philip are both outsiders for different reasons: Maggie’s unfeminine conduct leads to familial disapproval and social isolation, while Philip’s physical deformity leads others to sometimes unfairly judge or shun him. In pitying Philip, Maggie herself inadvertently dehumanizes him by putting all his positive qualities in the context of his physical deformity and all that deformity may imply about him. While Maggie is generally an empathetic character, she accidentally hurts Philip’s feelings, demonstrating how deeply-embedded societal expectations and prejudices are.

There is an underlying romantic tension in Philip and Maggie’s friendship. Philip longs for a sister like Maggie, but there is also an attraction to her looks. When Maggie kisses Philip, it is as a brother, but notably, when she goes to boarding school, she does not propose another meeting or try to kiss Philip again, as if somehow intuiting that they’re too old to kiss like innocent children. Maggie’s friendship with Philip also compels her to question her dynamic with Tom. Philip is kinder, more inclusive, and more observant of Maggie than Tom is. Maggie acknowledges that Tom doesn’t notice how much Maggie loves him, implying that she loves Tom more than he loves her. Rather than take the place of her brother, Philip is the embodiment of an entirely different sort of man who could offer a very different relationship.

All possibilities for friendship or a romantic relationship end when Mr. Tulliver loses his lawsuit. This plot twist is important because it changes the entire tone of the novel. While Part 1 focuses on the beauty of the towns around the Floss and the ups and downs of Maggie’s childhood, Part 2 abruptly ends this innocent period in Maggie and Tom’s lives. With the destruction of their family fortune and their father’s fall from the horse, Maggie and Tom’s lives change overnight. This reversal in fortune is a traumatic moment, shattering the family’s former domestic security and revealing how unprepared they are to face a future of poverty. With Mr. Tulliver unwell, it is up to Tom to take over the patriarchal role in his family.