Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Custody of the Pumpkin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Aristocracy and Power
Nature vs. Modernization
Subversion of Social Class
Summary
Analysis
As the sun rises on the idyllic pastures of the Blandings estate, Lord Emsworth, accompanied by his faithful butler, Beach, sits with his eye to a powerful telescope. Emsworth quickly announces that the telescope is a sham, and that he can see nothing but black. Beach, an “observant man,” gently reminds his employer that in order to see through the instrument, one must first remove the cap from the lens. Doing so, Emsworth can now see a cow. Pleased by this development, the “fluffy-minded” man watches the animal until his son, Freddie Threepwood, waltzes into view.
The opening scene shows Lord Emsworth surrounded by symbols of enlightenment, bathed in light and wielding a telescope. At first glance, the reader might mistake him for a dignified or intelligent figure. However, his inability to use the telescope quickly proves this first impression false, and when Beach corrects him, the audience learns which of the two men is truly the more intelligent. This exchange introduces the story’s core theme of class subversion: despite the symbolism surrounding the Lord and his aristocratic title, he is no better than his supposed subordinates.
Themes
Freddie is an endless source of anxiety to his father, who has no idea what to do with the boy. Though Freddie loves London, Emsworth has banned him from the city due to his habit of amassing debt and getting into “mischief.” At the same time, Freddie despises the “purer surroundings” of Blandings and is generally weighed down beneath a “crushing misery” when forced to be there. As such, Emsworth finds his son’s cheerful demeanor suspicious, and he watches the boy with the telescope until an unknown woman emerges from the woods and rushes into Freddie’s arms.
Here the narration immediately establishes an ideological divide between Emsworth and his son. While Emsworth considers the Blandings to be a “pure” kind of paradise, Freddie only lives there because of his wrongdoings and feels stifled or “crushed” by his lack of freedom. In this respect, to Freddie the family estate is closer to a punishment than a paradise.
Themes
Emsworth is devastated by this revelation. He had hoped that someday Freddie would marry an “eligible girl, belonging to a good family, and possessing a bit of money of her own.” However, the Earl reasons that if this were an eligible girl, his son would not being meeting her in secret. Emsworth ambushes Freddie on the terrace and demands to know the girl’s identity. Freddie assures his father that the relationship is nothing inappropriate—the girl is his fiancée, Niagara “Aggie” Donaldson. She’s an American, and a “sort of cousin” of the estate’s Scottish head gardener, Angus McAllister. This information rattles Emsworth even further. While he had imagined many “unpleasant visions” of his son’s future, not one of them had involved the cousin of a gardener.
Emsworth is quick to jump to conclusions about Aggie. Before he has learned so much as her name, he decides that she is most likely from a poor background. Freddy’s revelations about Aggie only serve to strengthen Emsworth’s misguided preconceptions even further. The girl is American, which already makes her unlikely to hold a noble title, and even worse, she is related to a member of the working class. According to Emsworth’s old-fashioned worldview—which hinges on a rigid social hierarchy, family status and titles, and inherited wealth—this means that Aggie, too, must be working class, and therefore unworthy of his son.
Themes
Following this conversation, Emsworth rushes across the terrace to confront McAllister. Despite being “well aware that modern earls must think twice before pulling the feudal stuff on their employés,” Emsworth threatens to fire McAllister if he does not send the girl away. McAllister is overcome by a curious expression—the “look of a man who has not forgotten Bannockburn, a man conscious of belonging to the country of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.” The gardener bluntly resigns from his position, and Emsworth leaves the “battlefield” without any remorse. That is, until, he realizes that with McAllister gone, the pumpkin may suffer.
This conflict between Lord Emsworth and McAllister is reflective of the 20th century’s changing views towards the ruling classes. Whereas in the past a man of Emsworth’s status may have been able to “pull the feudal stuff” in order to control his employees, this scene suggests that members of the modern working class are less willing to blindly accept the whims of the aristocracy. In refusing to follow orders, McAllister performs a small but meaningful act of rebellion, emphasized by his comparison to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, both of whom fought against English rule in the First War of Scottish Independence. Emsworth continues to hold an exaggerated view of his own power, believing that he won this “battle” even though he didn’t actually get what he wanted.
Themes
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The pumpkin is a matter of grave importance to Lord Emsworth, as it marks a gap in his family’s “scroll of honour.” While at first glance his ancestors might appear to have a lengthy record of “notable deeds,” no Earl of Emsworth has ever won first prize for pumpkins at the Shrewsbury Show. Emsworth feels this mark on his family’s history deeply. Ten days after McAllister’s departure, the Lord suffers a terrible dream in which King George himself arrives to view the pumpkin, only to find that it has shriveled to the size of a pea.
Emsworth’s attachment to his pumpkin represents how trivial and out of touch the concerns of the ruling classes have become. The phrase “scroll of honour” highlights this detachment from reality. For many in the wake of the First World War, the term “scroll of honour” referred to the commemorative certificate that the families of deceased soldiers received. While others earned these scrolls by laying down their lives in combat, Emsworth hopes to earn his placement with a particularly good pumpkin.
Themes
Emsworth wakes with the “Sovereign’s disappointed screams ringing in his ears,” and decides that while reinstating McAllister would mean “surrender,” he needs the gardener back for the pumpkin’s sake. The following morning, Emsworth sends a telegram to McAllister, demanding his immediate return. McAllister refuses. After this exchange, Emsworth decides to visit London, where he is confident he will find a new and even better head-gardener.
Despite the objective insignificance of his task, Emsworth’s dream sequence illustrates that he views his work as no less important than any other noble deed.
Themes
On the third day of this visit, after failing to find a single suitable candidate, Emsworth reflects on his hatred of the city, in particular “its crowds, its smells, its noises; its omnibuses, its taxis, and its hard pavements.” It is here that he stumbles across Freddie. To avoid any conflict, Freddie hands his father a note and quickly exits the scene. The note informs Emsworth that, despite his disapproval, Freddie and Aggie have eloped—and have also borrowed his car for the honeymoon. Emsworth finds himself overwhelmed by the news, and an “imperative need for flowers and green trees” comes over him. In a daze, he hails a cab to Kensington Gardens.
Here, Emsworth directly expresses his distaste for London, which he views as a confusing and overstimulating flurry of sights, smells, and sounds. Freddie further adds to the chaos with his note, which introduces several new facts all at once. The scene leaves Emsworth—and perhaps the reader—overwhelmed. As such, Emsworth’s sudden and “imperative” need to retreat to nature may seem entirely reasonable.
Themes
A short time later, peace comes across Lord Emsworth as he enters the park, and takes in the “consoling glory” of nature. Recovering from shock and entranced by the flowerbeds, the Earl becomes dazed. Believing himself to be “back in his paradise of Blandings,” he scales the low railing and, to the resolute horror of the nearby park-keeper, begins picking flowers.
Emsworth takes refuge from the hectic modern world in Kensington Gardens, as they remind of his own estate and, by extension, his noble heritage. It is possible that because the modern aristocracy holds so little power at this point, Emsworth finds comfort in environments where he feels a sense of control. However, this control is quickly revealed to be an illusion.
Themes
With this act, the park-keeper labels Emsworth “a dangerous criminal” and “the blackest type of evil-doer.” The keeper begins to scold Emsworth, which attracts the attentions of both a police constable and a small crowd. When Emsworth identifies himself as a Lord, the crowd—who merely sees a man in a “badly fitting tweed suit and a hat he ought to be ashamed of”—begins to laugh. They scorn him even further when he fails to produce his card-case (a wallet that contains confirmation of his title).
Without Emsworth’s card case and, by extension, confirmation of his title, the crowd judges him by his appearance and his actions alone, much in the same way Emsworth himself judged Aggie at the beginning of the story. However, unlike Aggie, Emsworth is actually guilty of a crime, and without the mask of nobility he almost experiences the consequences of his actions.
Themes
It is at this moment Emsworth glances at his spectators and finds among them McAllister and Mr Donaldson. The Lord appeals to McAllister for help, and despite what has passed between the two men, the Glaswegian affirms his former employer’s story. The constable—a “staunch admirer of the aristocracy”—regrets his zeal, and commands the crowd to move along.
On realizing that Emsworth is truly an Earl, the police constable develops a sudden and disproportionate reverence for this flower picker in a “badly fitting tweed suit” and ushers the crowd along. This scene illustrates that despite the fact that the aristocracy are dwindling in relevance and power, the British public continue to hold nobles to a different—and clearly unfair—standard.
Themes
With his ordeal over, Emsworth finally meets with Aggie’s father, Mr Donaldson. Emsworth prepares for this conversation by drawing himself up “with hauteur,” but he quickly finds himself outmatched by the other man’s “authoritative appearance.” Donaldson introduces himself as the founder of Donaldson’s Dog-Biscuits, and apologetically admits that he is not a rich man—he doubts, “if, all told, that [he has] as much as ten million dollars in the world.” This figure renders Emsworth speechless, and Donaldson surprises him further when he offers Freddie a career in Long Island City. Emsworth, in awe, gives his hearty approval.
The mere existence of self-made businessman Mr Donaldson challenges Emsworth’s prejudices and outdated beliefs regarding social class. Contrary to Emsworth’s immediate assumptions about Aggie, her family’s wealth surpasses Emsworth’s own, and though he enters the conversation with a sense of superiority, drawing himself up “with hauteur,” he leaves it awed and intimidated by a man whose success is his own.
Themes
With this conversation done, Emsworth turns his attentions to McAllister. Though Emsworth’s “tongue seem[s] to cleave his palette,” he puts aside his pride and begs the gardener to return. After negotiating a new salary, McAllister agrees.
Emsworth’s realization of his own relative insignificance seemingly inspires him to approach McAllister with a more reasonable attitude—though conceding defeat does cause him near physical pain.
Themes
Some time later, Emsworth and McAllister attend the Shrewsbury Show. Lord Emsworth’s sworn enemy, Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, offers the Earl his congratulations, while McAllister stands to the side as a “silent, beard waggling witness of the scene.” The pair turn and stare into a large packing case. Affixed to the outside of this case is a card, which reads “PUMPKINS. FIRST PRIZE.”
In the end, McAllister’s return assures the success of Emsworth’s pumpkin. However, it’s significant that Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe does not acknowledge McAllister, but instead offers his praise to Lord Emsworth, who readily accepts. Though Emsworth and McAllister stand side by side in the end, implying a level of camaraderie, this scene calls attention to the self-congratulatory nature of the aristocracy, and it leaves the reader to question which of the two men is truly more deserving of the award.
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