Mr. Eugenides

Mr Eugenides (Greek for well-born) is merchant from Turkey, trading in dried fruit. He is the modern counterpart of Phlebas, the drowned Phoenician sailor (note the pun on currants / currents). He offers the speaker his exports inclusive of cost, insurance and freight (C.i.f.) He also offers lunch and a weekend at a notorious Brighton hotel...

There is a racist (and probably homophobic) element to the description of Eugenides as foreign and unsavoury: he is unshaven and speaks a lower class French dialect. Presumably Eliot intends his name to be taken ironically.

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