Tobias Smollett's epistolary novel, Humphry Clinker

Despite the overall jaunty theme and happy ending of “The Expedition of Humphry Clinker” by Tobias Smollett, there are a few issues that rise to the surface occasionally and cause tension to the modern reader as he or she makes a summary of some of the colonial undercurrents present throughout this epistolary novel. One such issue revolves around the strange and exotic Lismahago and his summary of his adventures amongst the Miami tribes of North America(Douglas, p. 74). “The Expedition of Humphry Clinker”, written during time in which all that was foreign held an appeal, especially in terms of consumable goods, this character himself seems like an import, a unique delight from abroad. With his harrowing tales of his capture and other adventures, it is no wonder Tabitha and Matthew Bramble are so enamored with him. It is this very exoticism and focus on the colonial “spoils” that darkens the mood for the contemporary reader, especially since these goods from foreign places were so highly sought after during Smollett's time. In a sense then, the reader can view Lismahago as a sort of exotic commodity; after all, he seems more like a caricature than a character in the novel and a character analysis of Lismahgo proves that there is little depth, thus supporting this point. Perhaps Smollett is able to pull this feat off because all the characters are mock-ups of other societal stereotypes of the time, but it is the arrogance of Lismahago that stands out as particularly obscene at times—even though he is meant to be entertaining (Rousseau, p. 13).

The expedition of Humphrey Clinker is one of the great English novels of the eighteenth and the masterpiece of its author, Tobias Smolett, one of the most notable heirs of Cervantes. Matthew Bramble, misanthropic gout sufferer, traveling by Britain in the company of his nephews, his sister spinster and Humphrey Clinker, his faithful servant. Bramble sees the world as a place full of noise and degeneration, populated by drunks, vagrants and criminals. Built through the letters of six different characters, the novel is a hilarious and grotesque vision of England's reign of George III, the mad king, along with a delicious lesson narrative, a major work, now translated into Castilian porprimera time(Spector, p. 421).

It is an epistolary novel chronicles the life of Roderick Random wandering through a world whose cartoonish contrasts are excessive and where feelings are exacerbated. But tempered by the tenderness and the deep humanity of the author, it was forty-nine years, but was already exhausted and close to death(Smollett, p. 139). The work is seen as a spiritual testament where bitterness traits are diluted in the ocean of His goodness. It is more a travelogue than a novel, and features the journey of a family from Wales to England and Scotland, the letters clearly show through the personalities of the protagonists. It focuses on two frames in love and finding that Humphrey Clinker, family servant who is traveling, is actually the son of the head ...