North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 17 | Audiobook

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 17 "What is a Strike?", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :D⁠https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/join⁠Summary:Margaret is really not feeling like going out but eventually livens up a little in the hustle and bustle of the Milton streets. She decides to go and see Bessy Higgins. Nicholas is there when she goes in and offers her a chair, while she asks Betty how she is. Bessy doesn’t like the strike, and this is the 3rd one she has seen. Nicholas is adamant that this one will be the final one, the good one. Margaret asks them what a strike is. Margaret tells them that if people down south struck, then no seed would be sown, and no hay would be reaped. Nicholas doesn’t seem to be bothered by this but eventually says that he doesn’t know enough about the south but has heard that the men down south are all too soft to strike, compared to the Northen men. Bessy says that she wishes she lived down south, causing Margaret to tell her that there are problems down there too. Nicholas gets a little riled up about people not willing to fight for what they deserve. Nicholas eventually says that there are several masters in town that have told them that they are going to offer lower wages than they had over the last 2 years, so then workers are going to strike; why should they do the same works for less. He goes on to say that he is striking not only for himself, but for everyone else. He is taking up the cause for everyone who cannot work. Margaret asks him to ask the masters why they are offering less, believing that they will freely tell. Nicholas laughs this off, and says that the masters would never reveal why, as they believe that they have no need to tell the hands what is going on. He then mentions Mr Thornton’s name. Margaret ask to know what Thornton is like as a master. Nicholas describes the man as a bulldog; the moment he gets a hold of a notion he will not let go of it. Bessy wishes that there would be talk of other, happier things in her happier days, and she mentions that tobacco smoke chokes her. Nicholas puts his pipe out and then leaves the girls to talk alone. Bessy asks Margaret if she is a fool for letting her father go out like that, she knows that he is going to go and drink. There are days here where people just go through the motions, hoping for change, and people will do something different, like drink, or eat, just hoping for something different in their mouth or their minds. Bessy doesn’t blame people for doing these things but wishes that things weren’t like they were. There are many reasons for people to get mad during a strike and they will turn to worse actions. Bessy says that Margaret does not know anything about strikes, and this is just the beginning. Margaret tells Bessy to be careful; she has issues too. Margaret says that she has to go home to her sick mother and pretends to her father that everything is fine. Bessy then goes on a religious tangent about revelations, and Margaret begs her to focus on the clearer passages and not the prophecies. Margaret leaves to go home, thanking Bessy for talking to her about her grievances. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Elizabeth Gaskell's classic, "North and South" sees Margaret Hale's live uprooted as her family moves to the north of England. Initially disgusted by the ugliness of the industrial town of Milton, Margaret develops a strong sense of social justice after seeing the poverty and suffering of local mill workers.