# Bob Jakin — The Mill on the Floss character guide

> Bob Jakin in The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bob, Poor Bob, Jakin, The ingenious Bob

**First appearance:** 0005-v-tom-comes-home

## Snapshot

A sharp-tongued packman with a broken pocketknife he won't replace, Bob remembers every kindness and every blow from his boyhood with Tom.

## Who they are

Bob Jakin scrambles up from muddy scuffles with Tom to become a wandering trader whose loyalty outlasts the shame Tom feels at the old intimacy. He measures the world by a rough ledger of good turns and black eyes, and his return in the Tullivers' hour of trouble reveals a stubborn, self-made decency. His shrewdness and his memory of the pocketknife quietly seed later help the family cannot foresee.

## Relationships

### [Tom Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/tom_tulliver)

_friendship_

Loyal childhood friend and later business ally, with Bob's rough honesty and devotion to Tom.

### [Maggie Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/maggie_tulliver)

_friendship_

Kind and loyal friend from childhood, always ready to help Maggie in times of need.

### [Tom Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/tom_tulliver)

_friendship_

Loyal childhood friend and later business ally, with Bob's rough honesty and devotion to Tom.

### [Maggie Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/maggie_tulliver)

_friendship_

Kind and loyal friend from childhood, always ready to help Maggie in times of need.

### [Tom Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/tom_tulliver)

_friendship_

Loyal childhood friend and later business ally, with Bob's rough honesty and devotion to Tom.

### [Maggie Tulliver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/maggie_tulliver)

_friendship_

Kind and loyal friend from childhood, always ready to help Maggie in times of need.

## In the story

### [VI: The Aunts and Uncles Are Coming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/vi-the-aunts-and-uncles-are-coming)

Mentioned as Tom's companion by the river; Maggie considers him wicked without fully understanding why.

### [VI: Tending to Refute the Popular Prejudice Against the Present of a Pocketknife](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/vi-tending-to-refute-the-popular-prejudice-against-the-present-of-a-pocketknife)

Bob visits Tom, recalling their childhood and offering nine sovereigns to help the family in their trouble.

### [Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bob's Thumb](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/ii-aunt-glegg-learns-the-breadth-of-bob-s-thumb)

Bob proposes the trading venture to Tom and facilitates the initial cargo deal.

### [VI: The Hard-Won Triumph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/vi-the-hard-won-triumph)

Mentioned as having played a key role in Tom's trading adventures, earning Mr. Tulliver's admiration.

### [A Day of Reckoning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/vii-a-day-of-reckoning)

Visits to congratulate Mr. Tulliver on his good fortune, but the mood is overshadowed by the day's events.

### [IV: Brother and Sister](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/iv-brother-and-sister)

Now married and living by the waterside; rents rooms to Tom; greets Maggie warmly.

### [The Return to the Mill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/i-the-return-to-the-mill)

Provides shelter for Maggie and her mother, shows sympathy by naming his baby after Maggie, and agrees to help contact Dr. Kenn.

### [The Last Conflict](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/chapters/v-the-last-conflict)

Maggie wakes him when the flood enters the house; he is the practical, hopeful boat-owner.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters/bob_jakin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mill_on_the_floss_se/characters