The altered inventory
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
Edmund followed Mr Bell into Mrs Harland’s front room and opened the inventory book. Almost everything the family owned appeared to have been gathered there: six chairs, a clock, a narrow table and a sewing machine polished more carefully than any of them. Mrs Harland’s daughter stood by the cold fireplace, twisting a loose thread around her finger. Her mother had gone to ask the creditor for more time.
“Write what you see and what it is worth,” Mr Bell instructed. He then went into the kitchen to inspect the remaining furniture. Edmund knew that the sewing machine provided much of Mrs Harland’s income. He also knew that Mr Bell trusted him to make an accurate record. After listening for the closing of the kitchen door, Edmund wrote beside the machine: damaged beyond sale.
The words gave him a moment’s satisfaction. He imagined Mrs Harland returning to find that some merciful stranger had placed her most useful possession beyond the creditor’s reach. Yet the machine’s black surface reflected his moving hand, and he covered the false entry with his sleeve when the daughter approached. She read it before he could close the book. Instead of thanking him, she looked towards the door and waited for her mother.
Mrs Harland returned with mud on her dress and no agreement from the creditor. When she saw the inventory, she took the pen from Edmund. “The machine works,” she said, crossing out his words. “I will ask for patience honestly. I will not purchase it with a lie.” Mr Bell added that the creditor was a carpenter who owed wages to two workmen of his own. He did not dismiss Edmund or praise him; he merely required the page to be written again. As Edmund copied the corrected entry, he understood that he had tried to preserve Mrs Harland’s property by taking from her the right to speak for herself.
“The writer presents Edmund’s attempt to protect Mrs Harland’s property as well-intentioned but morally wrong.”
Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.