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A typical reader, upon picking up a copy of Dorothy
Sayers’ novel, The Nine Tailors,
might expect to have found a tale involving nine crime-solving men whose day
jobs are to adjust people’s clothing. As the reader becomes more involved in
the story, however, he or she will come to realize that a tailor, as an
occupation, has very little to do with the story. Instead the reader will
discover that the nine tailors from the title of the book actually refer to
church bells. This meaning, though not obvious at first, becomes the most
plausible meaning for the title. There is much mention of bells throughout the
book, but even so, why would such a great author as Dorothy Sayers title what
is dubbed her finest mystery novel after inanimate objects, instead of
something more profound? This question itself is flawed, because in the novel,
bells are more than just inanimate objects. While the meaning of the title of the
book has an obvious meaning apparent to anyone who reads the book, it also
possesses many deeper and far more important meanings. Thus, the title of the
novel is probably at its most profound.
The first, most apparent meaning for the title of the
book becomes known in the first few chapters; the nine tailors are the peals
rung for a dead man. Since the book is so focused on the work of the bells, it
is important to note that the bells also ring for births, baptisms, and
marriages, in addition to deaths. Thus, the existence of the bells is centered
around events involving life and death. The term “nine tailors” could also
refer to the ringers of the bells themselves. These ringers, who must of
necessity be alive, are the ones who ring the nine tailors for dead men. Since
life is required to announce the presence of death, life and death are once
again intertwined in the novel. This is an accurate portrayal of the reality of
life and death in real life, since in order for there to be a death, there must
have first been a life. The lives of these ringers are vastly important in the
story because not only do they deal with the bells, but they also have to do
with the Church itself.
One of the less obvious meanings of the title, The Nine Tailors, involves the symbolism
of the Church. In the time in which the book takes place, the Church in England
was very tied into life and death. For instance, Christians according to the
Bible die to their old selves in baptism. Also, in The Nine Tailors, the church represented life by acting as an ark
during the flood at the end of the story. The preacher in this church, Mr.
Venables, did his job and acted as the shepherd to his flock by guiding his
parish into safety. 1 Corinthians
12:12-13 says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the
members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in
one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jew or Greeks, slaves or free—and
all were made to drink of one Spirit.” This picture of the Church is
represented in The Nine Tailors in
more instances than just when Mr. Venables did his duty and saved his parish. For
example, towards the end of the book the main character, Lord Peter Wimsey,
unfolds how the victim was killed by the sound of the bells in the church
tower. However, it was not just the bells that killed the man—it was also the
fault of the ringers themselves. These ringers, members of the body of Christ,
worked together to carry out God’s justice in the man’s death.
Yet another important meaning of the title of the book
lies in how the justice of God was carried out. Mr. Venables suggests at the
end of the book that the bells acted as God’s messengers by killing the victim,
Deacon, for his sins. This idea is strengthened by Mr. Venables’ reminder that
one of the bells, Batty Thomas, has a reputation for having killed two other
men. In a conversation between Lord Peter Wimsey and Hezekiah Lavender,
Lavender said, “Yew ain’t no call to be afeard o’ the bells if so be as yew
follows righteousness.” Lavender means by this that the bells punish the
wicked, like Deacon. Not much can be said for the other two men Batty Thomas
killed, but Lavender’s statement definitely fits with the circumstances
surrounding Deacon’s death. More symbolism appears in the fact that Deacon died
within the church, while harboring sins of greed within his heart. On the other
hand, Lavender, a righteous man in this tale, lives to a ripe old age. This
once again ties back to the theme of life and death in the book, since the nine
tailors protect the lives of the righteous and punish the lives of the
unrighteous.
Sayers could have titled her book after its theme, life
and death, but she chose instead to add symbolic flair to the title yet still
hold true to the novel’s theme. The reader sees time and again that the book’s
theme, life and death, ties into the book’s title. This happens mainly when the
church bells cause the death of Deacon, but also because of the living men who
rang the nine tailors for the dead man. The physical church and the members of
the body of Christ both worked together to carry out God’s justice, again
relating back to life and death. So in the end, although Sayers did name The Nine Tailors after a set of
inanimate objects, these inanimate objects serve as a symbolic bridge between
what we observe and what she wants to teach the reader about life and death.
