Backwater · Chapter
IV explained
Miriam observes a dying old woman and her cold daughter in church, reflecting on isolation and mortality.
What happens
Miriam observes a dying old woman and her cold daughter in church, reflecting on isolation and mortality. Back at school, she teaches her junior class with Miss Perne's approval, then reads a devotional book by a living bishop, grappling with self-examination and spiritual preparation.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Belonging
Miriam feels isolated observing the old woman and her daughter, and later finds a sense of belonging with her students.
Inner Life and Consciousness
Miriam's deep introspection during church and her private devotional reading reveal her inner struggles with mortality and spirituality.
Time and Transience
The old woman's impending death and Miriam's reflections on the passage of time highlight the theme of transience.
Characters to notice
- Miriam Henderson
Observes the old woman and her daughter in church, teaches her junior class, and reads a devotional book, contemplating spiritual preparation.
- Miss Jenny Perne
Present in the schoolroom, teaching her own class of younger girls while Miriam teaches the upper junior class.
- Burra
A young girl who greets Miriam with an enthusiastic embrace at school.
- Gertie
A neat little girl in the junior class who speaks to Miriam about her weekend walk.
- Nancie Wilkie
Mentioned as a possible presence in Miriam's bedroom during her nighttime prayers.
Key passages
“The old woman’s heavy face with its heavy jawbone seemed to have been dead for years under its coffin-shaped black bonnet.”
The old woman's face looked as if it had been lifeless for a long time, hidden beneath a bonnet shaped like a coffin.
Miriam's grim observation of the old woman in church.
“She knew that everybody was alone and that all the fuss and noise people made all day was a pretence.”
She understood that everyone is fundamentally alone, and the daily commotion is just a facade.
Miriam's realization about human isolation.
“The fog made the room with the strange brilliant brown light on the table, on the horsehair chairs, on the shabby length of brown and yellow oilcloth running out to the bay of the low window, seem to be rushing through space, alone.”
The fog gave the room an eerie, bright brown light, making it feel as if it were hurtling through space in solitude.
Miriam's perception of the foggy morning at school.
“Then that dreadful feeling at early service, kneeling like a lump in the pew, too late to begin to be good, the exhausted moments by the altar rail—the challenging light on the shining brass rod, on the priest’s ring and the golden lining of the cup, the curious bite of the wine in the throat—the sullen disappointed homecoming; all the strange failure was due to lack of preparation.”
The unpleasant experience at early service—feeling like a lump while kneeling, being too late to start being good, the weary moments at the altar, the harsh light on the brass and the priest's ring, the taste of wine, and the gloomy return home—was all because she hadn't prepared properly.
Miriam's reflection on her failed spiritual experience.