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Bessy Witter/Mrs. Carson
Along with his wife Mrs. Sturgis, Ben Sturgis—a kindly old Liverpool boatman—gives Mary Barton shelter when she loses the address of the place she was supposed to stay in Liverpool during Jem Wilson’s trial for murder. He and his wife also provide Mary with a place to convalesce after she has a seizure and collapses at Jem’s trial.
The Old Boatman/Ben Sturgis Quotes in Mary Barton
The Mary Barton quotes below are all either spoken by The Old Boatman/Ben Sturgis or refer to The Old Boatman/Ben Sturgis. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 31 Quotes
“I almost misdoubt thee, thou’rt so pretty. Well-a-well! It’s the bad ones as have the broken hearts, sure enough; good folk never get utterly cast down, they’ve always getten hope in the Lord; it’s the sinful as bear the bitter, bitter grief in their crushed hearts, poor souls; it’s them we ought, most of all, to pity and help.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Old Boatman/Ben Sturgis Character Timeline in Mary Barton
The timeline below shows where the character The Old Boatman/Ben Sturgis appears in Mary Barton. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 28
...the boat arrives at sundown, the watermen shake her awake. She tries to offer one old boatman her shawl, but he refuses it, saying they only asked for it to make sure...
(full context)
Chapter 31
Meanwhile, the old boatman takes Mary back to his house, where she abruptly faints. The boatman and his wife...
(full context)
Chapter 34
When the day comes for Mary to travel home, she is terribly sad to leave Ben Sturgis and Mrs. Sturgis, who have been so kind to her. By the time Mary and...
(full context)
