52 pages • 1 hour read
Michael CrichtonThe Great Train Robbery
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1975A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “Preparations: May-October 1854”
Introduction Summary
Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of pedophilia. The source material also makes use of racial slurs, which this guide obscures.
Michael Crichton describes the historical background of The Great Train Robbery, which was inspired by an actual heist of £12,000 of gold bullion from a train in England in 1855. The robbery was particularly shocking to the Victorian public because they associated the relatively new rail system with progress, which they assumed would naturally lead to a reduction in crime. The heist challenged other common assumptions about the nature of crime: that crime is the result of poverty, is committed by unintelligent people, and “does not pay” (xvi).
The thieves of the Great Train Robbery were “professional criminals” who were caught in 1856. Crichton claims that he uses the records of the court proceedings and newspaper coverage to reconstruct the events in his historical fiction novel. (However, these “sources” are all fabricated by Crichton for the sake of the novel.)
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Provocation”
As a South Eastern Railway train travels from London and reaches Kent, the door of the luggage car opens. Inside, a young man is fighting with a much larger guard. The guard knocks the young man out of the moving train. He sees the young man on the ground and then closes the door of the luggage car. The young man tries to get up but cannot. Thirty minutes later, a wealthy gentleman arrives in a coach and climbs a hill near the tracks. He pulls out his binoculars and sees the young man on the ground. Then he gets back in his carriage and returns to London.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “The Putter-Up”
The wealthy gentleman is Edward Pierce. His background is a mystery, and the source of his wealth is unknown. It is rumored that he owns several public houses (bars), along with a fleet of cabs run by a man with a white scar named Barlow. Pierce also has a reputation as a master burglar who “finances large-scale criminal operations,” a position known as “a putter-up” (7). In 1854, he is planning his greatest heist, The Great Train Robbery.
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “The Screwsman”
Robert Agar is a talented “screwsman, or specialist in keys and safe-breaking” (7). He is known for his nimble fingers. His court testimony states that he met Edward Pierce at the Bull and Bear public house.
Agar had heard rumors that Pierce was planning a big job. He approaches Pierce at the Bull and Bear, and they discuss the plan in veiled code. Pierce needs Agar to “wax,” or make wax impressions of keys for the purposes of duplicating the keys “on the fly” (10), or on location. Agar says he can do it. Pierce says that he will let Agar know when he needs him.
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “The Unwitting Accomplice”
Mr. Henry Fowler is a friend of Edward Pierce’s who works as a general manager at the bank Huddleston & Bradford in Westminster. He is a wealthy gentleman who does not know about Pierce’s criminal background. Huddleston & Bradford Bank is tasked with transporting gold to pay for British soldiers who are fighting in the Crimean War. In March of 1854, someone attempted to rob one of these trains, but the young man was killed after being thrown from the train.
At a dinner at Pierce’s home in May of 1854, Mr. Fowler describes the attempted robbery to Pierce and details all the security measures that he has since put in place to prevent anyone from robbing the gold transports. The gold is kept in two high-quality safes that require four keys to open; two are kept at the railway office, one is held by the bank partner Mr. Trent, and one is kept on Mr. Fowler’s person.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “The Railway Office”
Crichton describes the history of London Bridge Station where the office of the South Eastern Railway is located. This rail company’s trains are used to transport the gold. In July 1854, Pierce and Agar surveille the train station from a bench on the platform, using stopwatches to track the comings and goings of the railway staff and guards. While they stake out the station, they discuss how best to copy the two keys in the railway office. They decide to do it at night. Agar needs “a snakesman” to open the door from the inside by climbing through a small window. The best snakesman is Clean Willy, but he is currently in prison. Pierce says that he will try to get Clean Willy out of Newgate Prison; he will then get back in touch with Agar about the plan.
Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary: “The Problem and the Solution”
Pierce still needs to figure out where Mr. Trent holds the fourth key to the safe. (The narrative notes that in the middle of the 19th century, keys were the best way to open safes. However, such keys are hard to find because they are so small.) Pierce talks to the bank clerks to learn what he can about Mr. Trent, a man with a dedicated routine and few vices. Pierce determines that Mr. Trent does not keep the key in his office.
Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary: “The Swell”
Teddy Burke is a well-dressed pickpocket who is working on the Strand, a street known for its elegant shops in London. When he lifts the wallet of a woman and passes it off to a member of his crew, his theft is spotted by a man who commends him on his talent. The man asks him if he could effectively pretend to pickpocket Mr. Trent of Huddlestone & Bradford Bank the next day at 8 am Burke agrees to do the job for £10—£5 up front and £5 when the job is done.
Part 1, Chapter 8 Summary: “The Holy Land”
Crichton describes how the rapid urbanization of London led to high-income areas being located right next to slums. One such slum is “the Holy Land,” which is located near several wealthy areas.
In late July 1854, Pierce goes to the Holy Land and finds a girl named Maggie, “Clean Willy’s doll” (37). Pierce tells Maggie that the next time she visits Clean Willy in prison, she should pass on the message that Clean Willy should break out during the upcoming public hanging of Emma Barnes. She agrees.
Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 8 Analysis
The opening chapters of The Great Train Robbery strategically shift between different versions of third-person omniscient narration. The first mode constitutes a form of historical narrative wherein there is no central character or plot focus; instead, key historical facts are presented to contribute to the broader exposition of the novel, as when Crichton provides a largely accurate history of London Bridge Station in Chapter 5. The second narrative style is presented in the form of testimony from the court trial of the co-conspirators, which is held after the heist. A prime example of this mode occurs at the beginning of Chapter 3, for the narrative states, “Robert Agar—a known screwsman, or specialist in keys and safe-breaking—testified in court that when he met Edward Pierce in late May 1854, he had not seen him for two years previously” (7). Although this information is presented as an excerpt from authentic court transcripts, the court trial and testimony are entirely fictional. The third form of third-person omniscient narration presents events as they occur in real time. When the co-conspirators are plotting or preparing a con, the narrative focuses closely on them, their actions, and their discussions, creating a more immediate view of the story in progress, as in the discussion between Agar and Pierce in the Bull and Bear.
However, it is also important to note that even though the narrative is largely omniscient, Crichton sometimes elects to describe the events in such a way that the identities of the known characters are obscured, even if they can be easily inferred. This approach creates an impression of how the public would perceive the criminals’ activities while their confidence games are in progress. For example, in Chapter 7, William Pierce makes contact with the pickpocket Teddy Burke. However, throughout this passage, Pierce is only referred to as a “red-bearded gentleman,” which is how Teddy Burke would have known him. These deliberately shifting narrative perspectives provide intrigue and add a cinematic element to the narrative. To that end, the opening chapters are a classic example of the beginning of a heist narrative wherein each of the members of the conspiracy are introduced. The titles of the chapters in this section refer to each criminal’s job in the broader conspiracy; William Pierce is the “putter-up,” or mastermind; Robert Agar is the “screwsman,” or lockpick; and Mr. Henry Fowler is the “unwitting accomplice.”
In the opening chapters of the novel, Crichton creates a sense of verisimilitude and evoke the trappings of Victorian society by featuring examples of Cockney slang to describe the titles of the different kinds of criminals. Cockney is a dialect of English most often spoken in London by members of the lower- and working-classes. It is a complex dialect that occasionally requires translation into standard English to be easily comprehensible to those who do not speak it. Crichton provides some context clues and definitions to aid his readers’ understanding of Cockney, as in this bit of dialogue: “‘She’s a judy, Clean Willy’s doll.’ ‘I know of her. Pinches laundry, doesn’t she? Aye, she does a bit of snow, I’m sure of it’” (37). This implies that “do[ing] a bit of snow” refers to someone who steals laundry and that a “judy” is someone’s girlfriend. William Pierce’s ability to speak both Cockney English and received pronunciation is a clue as to his sophistication as a con artist.
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