Originally Posted by
Catriona L
What did everybody else think of Mr Gibson? It seemed to me that Mrs Gaskell really liked this character and of course Molly and Cynthia adore him. However, I never came to like him. I didn't like the way that at the beginning he wants to keep Molly always with him, even for quite some time evading Mrs Hamley's wish to see her. Then, once he has married Hyacinth, he's almost never at home, always working and thereby leaving Molly in Mrs Gibson's company. I didn't think that he tried very hard to spend time exclusively with Molly. The situation becomes worse when Cynthia marries and Molly is left with only Mrs Gibson for long stretches of time. Perhaps he forgets that Molly is obliged not only to spend the evenings with Mrs Gibson, but also the daytime?
Also, I became furious with him when he attempts to prevent his daughter from reading, but luckily she circumvents this problem. Then, when Molly is staying with Squire Hamley after the death of Osbourne, Mr Gibson decides to order everything himself even though Molly is an extremely capable young woman, more than equal to the task in hand. It seems as though he would always look upon her as a young child.
I do not deny that Mr Gibson is upright, wise and has many other virtues besides, but I really could not understand why all the characters liked him so much.
