The First Mermaid

The first mermaid represents the value of novelty, subverts cultural expectations, and shows how people exploit what is rare and odd.

At first Mr. Hancock is abhorred by the mermaid sea captain Tysoe Jones brings him, but over the course of the novel he comes to see its value. Gowar describes it this way, "It is the size of an infant, and like an infant its ribcage is delicate and pathetic beneath its parchment skin, and its head is large, and its fists are drawn up to its face" (32). The mermaid proves to be extremely valuable, with Mr. Hancock making his fortune from it. The first day he exhibits the mermaid, he makes more than 38 pounds, then Mrs. Chappell offers him 200 pounds to exhibit it at her house for a week. Finally a rich collector pays him 20,000 pounds to own the mermaid. The mermaid...