Little Dorrit Book 2, Chapter 32 Summary

Going

  • Pancks is going nuts with guilt over Arthur and the investments. He keeps going over and over the numbers in his head – and on paper they should both have been very rich by now.
  • The more he stresses, the more Casby annoys him.
  • But he is used to his job and has been harassing the Bleeding Heart Yard tenants like before.
  • One day, though, Casby calls Pancks into a meeting.
  • He has a bunch of annoying demands: 1) get even more money out of the Bleeding Heart Yard people – squeeze them for all they're worth; 2) tell Flora to stop going to see Arthur in prison; and 3) stop going to see Arthur yourself while we're at it. Man, that's some evil boss!
  • Pancks kind of says "oh" to all of this, but lets it go.
  • As soon as Casby leaves, Pancks follows him.
  • They both end up in Bleeding Heart Yard.
  • Pancks calls Casby out in front of all the people there.
  • He tells everyone that it's actually Casby and not Pancks who is the greedy one. He has no sympathy for the people and just wants to squeeze them dry.
  • Pancks then tells them the only reason Casby looks so nice is because he has all that beautiful hair, which makes him look like a Biblical patriarch.
  • Casby is too dull-witted to be able to respond to this.
  • Suddenly, Pancks knocks Casby's hat off his head, whips out a pair of scissors, and hacks off all of his hair.
  • Casby stands there, now a laughingstock.