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Allusion
Explanation and Analysis—The Rich Man and Lazarus:
When Margaret feels guilty about attending the Thorntons' fancy dinner-party while many in Milton go hungry, Bessy attempts to reassure Margaret, using a rather confused allusion to a biblical parable.
Some’s pre-elected to sumptuous feasts, and purple and fine linen,—may be yo’re one on ’em. Others toil and moil all their lives long—and the very dogs are not pitiful in our days, as they were in the days of Lazarus. But if yo’ ask me to cool yo’r tongue wi’ th’ tip of my finger, I’ll come across the great gulf to yo’ just for th’ thought o’ what yo’ve been to me here.
Bessy is referring to the story of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke. In the parable, a rich man dressed in "purple and fine linen" enjoyed luxurious feasts while a poor beggar lay outside his gate, where dogs licked his sores. Later, after both men die, the rich man is tormented in hell while Lazarus is comforted in heaven. The rich man asks that Lazarus be sent down to dip his finger in water and cool the rich man's tongue to relieve his agony, but because the rich man has already received good things during his earthly life, his request is denied.
Bessy is ill and perhaps misremembering or mixing up the story, but her application of it is nevertheless interesting. She regards Margaret as somehow being predestined to finer things, like the rich man, and identifies herself with poor Lazarus, meant to "toil and moil" all her life without even a merciful dog to lick her. But while the Bible story clearly offers a warning to the rich, suggesting that they get too attached to worldly wealth and pay too little attention to mercy, Bessy is more ambiguous. She implies that Margaret will languish in hell like the rich man, but that she will gladly cross the "great gulf" to cool Margaret's tongue out of gratitude for her friend's earthly kindness. Though Bessy apparently hasn't thought through this implication (if she's so good, why would Margaret be in hell in the first place?), she makes the point that Margaret is an exception to the parable's rule—wealthier people can be merciful.
Although Bessy's allusion doesn't follow the biblical logic, it suggests two interesting perspectives. First, that rich and poor are "pre-elected" to their positions—there's little idea of social mobility in Bessy's world, and she even believes that God appoints people to specific lots in life. Second, that however fixed it might be, one's social class doesn't limit one's moral character—a rich person can be kind, and a poor person can be cruel.
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