Possession Lesson Plan

Describe Mortimer Cropper's character. What is the significance of his fixation with transporting British cultural items to his collection in America?

Cropper is presented as a grasping, cunning, and dangerous character. He is obsessed with obtaining all he can of Ash's writings and belongings and is willing to engage in unethical behavior (like taking secret photographs of Mrs. Wapshott's letters) to achieve this goal. Byatt places Cropper in the American West and says that his hips conjure up the "faraway ghost of a gunbelt." These details connect him to American ideas of manifest destiny and conquest. Due to his vast wealth and resources, he is able to wield more...