Dodsworth · Chapter
VI explained
On the last day of the voyage, the Dodsworths enjoy a festive atmosphere aboard the Ultima, with Sam feeling a heightened sensitivity to the joy and pathos of the passengers.
What happens
On the last day of the voyage, the Dodsworths enjoy a festive atmosphere aboard the Ultima, with Sam feeling a heightened sensitivity to the joy and pathos of the passengers. He dances with Fran and others, experiences a moment of ecstasy upon seeing the English lighthouse, and shares a tender moment with Fran before Lockert interrupts. The chapter ends with Sam's sensory immersion in the sights and smells of England as they travel by train.
Themes in this chapter
American Identity and Expatriation
Sam's emotional reaction to seeing England as 'Mother England' and his sense of belonging to a land of literary and ancestral heritage.
The Search for Meaning and Self-Identity
Sam's wistful perception of the loneliness of the world and his questioning of Fran's quest for youth through changing skies.
Marriage and Disillusionment
Fran's critical comments about Sam's dancing and her preference for Lockert's company highlight growing marital tensions.
Characters to notice
- Sam Dodsworth
Experiences a range of emotions from boisterous well-being to sentimental ecstasy upon sighting England; reflects on the loneliness of the world and his own belonging.
- Fran Dodsworth
Dances with many partners, including Lockert; remains aloof from Sam's sentimental outburst but shares a brief tender moment with him.
- Major Clyde Lockert
Acts as the mixer of the voyage, proprietorially attentive to Fran, and interrupts Sam and Fran's private moment on deck.
- Sally O'Leary
Movie actress who dances with Sam and flatters him, calling him a 'lovely partner.'
- Tub Pearson
Mentioned as having a nephew at the American Embassy, contributing to Sam's sense of belonging.
- Mr. A. B. Hurd
Manager of the London Revelation agency, mentioned as part of Sam's network in England.
Key passages
“He was raised to a quivering sensitiveness toward all of them. He was not drunk, certainly, but after two cocktails, half a bottle of champagne, and a cognac or two, he was released from his customary caution, his habitual concentration on his own affairs.”
Sam became acutely aware of everyone around him, not from drunkenness but from the loosening of his usual reserve after a few drinks.
Sam's emotional openness and sensitivity to the human condition.
“He did not know (he never knew) whether the light was on Bishop's Rock or the English mainland, but his released imagination saw the murkiness to northward there as England itself. Mother England! Land of his ancestors; land of the only kings who, to an American schoolboy, had been genuine monarchs.”
Sam was uncertain of the exact location of the lighthouse, but his imagination transformed the darkness into a vision of England, the land of his ancestors and the kings of his childhood stories.
Sam's romanticized and literary vision of England as a homeland.
“The smell of London is a foggy smell, a sooty smell, a coal-fire smell, yet to certain wanderers it is more exhilarating, more suggestive of greatness and of stirring life, than springtime hillsides or the chill sweetness of autumnal nights.”
The distinctive smoky scent of London, though grimy, is more thrilling to some travelers than the fresh smells of nature.
The evocative power of London's atmosphere for returning or arriving travelers.