The silent clock

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

The clock had occupied the highest shelf for six months. Its case was dark with age, and the painted moon above its face remained fixed between two silver clouds. Customers sometimes admired it, but Mr Wren always directed them towards clocks that could be trusted to move.

On Thursday evening, he placed the silent clock on Daniel’s bench. “Take out whatever can be used,” he said. “The rest goes to the timber yard tomorrow.”

Daniel looked from the clock to the row of labelled drawers where the useful pieces would be kept. “You said its workings were finely made.”

“Finely made things wear out.” Mr Wren put on his coat. “There is no honour in wasting the shop’s time merely to protect your opinion of yourself.”

The shop door closed behind him. Daniel remained at the bench, offended less by the order than by the accuracy with which his master had guessed what he wanted. During his apprenticeship, repairs had left the shop bearing Mr Wren’s name. If Daniel restored this clock after everyone else had dismissed it, the small card tied to its key might carry his own.

He lifted the mechanism from its case. At first, the crowded wheels seemed to confirm his master’s judgement. Then he noticed that one slender strip of metal caught against another whenever he moved the largest wheel. The obstruction was slight, but it was enough to halt everything behind it.

Daniel lit a second candle. He worked slowly, stopping whenever his tired fingers began to hurry. Midnight passed. The shop cooled, and the flame shortened. At last, he returned the mechanism to its case and moved the hands forward.

The clock began to tick.

Its sound filled the shop so completely that Daniel laughed aloud. He pictured Mr Wren standing beneath the shelf, searching for some fault and finding none. He pictured the card beside the clock and his own name written clearly across it.

After seven minutes, the ticking ceased.

Daniel waited, then opened the case again. Nothing appeared broken. He adjusted the metal strip once more, and the clock resumed its movement, although now each tick seemed weaker than the last. When the first grey light reached the window, it was silent again.

Mr Wren arrived to find the clock standing on the bench, its face newly cleaned. “You ignored me,” he said.

Daniel did not move aside. “It worked.”

Mr Wren studied him. “And did it keep time?”

Daniel rested one hand on the wooden case. Beneath his palm there was no movement at all. “It can,” he replied.

“The writer makes Daniel’s attempt to repair the clock seem both principled and self-serving, so the reader cannot reach a simple judgement about him.”

Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.