At the Back of the North Wind · Chapter
IX: How Diamond Got to the Back of the North Wind explained
Diamond travels with North Wind through icy realms, witnessing her faint and dissolve into light.
What happens
Diamond travels with North Wind through icy realms, witnessing her faint and dissolve into light. He continues alone on an iceberg, eventually reaching a frozen land where he finds North Wind waiting on a doorstep. She instructs him to walk through her to reach the country at her back. Diamond obeys, enduring intense cold and whiteness until he faints and falls, thus entering the back of the north wind. The chapter then shifts to Diamond's home life, where his parents discuss his health and decide to send him to visit his aunt in Sandwich. Diamond explores the sleepy old town, befriends a toothless old woman who runs a toyshop, and one afternoon hears a whirring sound among the toys.
Themes in this chapter
Faith and Trust
Diamond trusts North Wind completely, even when she vanishes and when he must walk through her despite the pain, demonstrating unwavering faith.
Suffering and Redemption
Diamond endures intense cold and faints while passing through North Wind, a painful ordeal that leads to his arrival at the back of the north wind.
Characters to notice
- Diamond
Diamond journeys with North Wind, obeys her instruction to walk through her despite the pain, and later visits his aunt in Sandwich where he explores the town and befriends an old woman.
- North Wind
North Wind grows faint and transparent, dissolves into light, and later appears as a motionless figure on an ice doorstep. She instructs Diamond to walk through her to reach the back of the north wind.
- Father
Diamond's father is present at breakfast, jokes with his wife about Diamond's health, and agrees to let Diamond visit his aunt in Sandwich.
- Mother
Diamond's mother expresses concern about Diamond's health, suggests he visit his aunt in Sandwich, and arranges the trip.
Key passages
“I am going, Diamond. ... You must not be frightened though. Just go straight on, and you will come all right. You'll find me on the doorstep.”
North Wind tells Diamond she is fading away but reassures him to continue forward and that he will find her waiting at the doorstep.
North Wind's dissolution and instruction to Diamond.
“You must walk on as if I were an open door, and go right through me.”
North Wind instructs Diamond to treat her like a doorway and pass through her body.
The method by which Diamond enters the back of the north wind.
“It used to be one of the five chief seaports in England, but it began to hold itself too high, and the consequence was the sea grew less and less intimate with it, gradually drew back, and kept more to itself, till at length it left it high and dry.”
Sandwich was once a major port but lost its connection to the sea due to pride, becoming an inland town.
Historical description of Sandwich's decline.