# New Voices in the Waves explained — Dombey and Son > Chapter companion for Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. ## What happens Florence returns to the seaside and visits Dr. Blimber's school, recalling her brother Paul. Mr. Toots accompanies her, struggles with his feelings, and proposes but is gently rejected. Meanwhile, Mrs. Skewton lies ill and restless, attended by Edith, who is haunted by her mother's delirious accusations. ## Themes in this chapter ### Love and Sacrifice Mr. Toots's unrequited love for Florence and his willingness to sacrifice his own happiness for her. ### Family and Neglect Mrs. Skewton's accusations of neglect toward Edith, and the strained mother-daughter relationship. ### Innocence and Childhood Florence's nostalgic return to the scenes of her brother Paul's childhood, and the memory of his innocence. ## Character check-ins ### Florence Dombey Returns to the seaside, visits Dr. Blimber's school, and gently rejects Mr. Toots's proposal. ### Mr. Toots Follows Florence to the seaside, proposes but is kindly refused, then confides in Mr. Feeder. ### Edith Dombey Sits by her mother's bedside, unmoved and cold, as Mrs. Skewton raves. ### Mrs. Skewton Lies ill and delirious, accusing Edith of neglect and seeing imaginary threats. ### Doctor Blimber Receives Florence and Mr. Toots at his school, resumes studies. ### Cornelia Blimber Accompanies Mrs. Blimber and Florence upstairs; Mr. Feeder has his eye on her. ## Key lines > All is going on as it was wont. The waves are hoarse with repetition of their mystery; the dust lies piled upon the shore; the seabirds soar and hover; the winds and clouds go forth upon their trackless flight; the white arms beckon, in the moonlight, to the invisible country far away. Everything continues as before: the waves endlessly murmur their secret, dust gathers on the beach, seabirds fly, and the moonlight seems to call toward a distant, unseen land. _Sets a melancholic, reflective tone as Florence revisits the seaside._ > Mr. Toots, who saw when Florence came down that there were tears upon her face, is desperately anxious and uneasy, and at first fears that he did wrong in proposing the visit. Mr. Toots notices Florence's tears and worries that suggesting the visit to Dr. Blimber's was a mistake. _Highlights Mr. Toots's sensitivity and concern for Florence's feelings._ > Ugly and haggard it lies upon its bed of unrest; and by it, in the terror of her unimpassioned loveliness—for it has terror in the sufferer's failing eyes—sits Edith. Mrs. Skewton lies ugly and exhausted on her restless bed, while Edith sits beside her, her cold beauty frightening to her mother's failing eyes. _Contrasts Mrs. Skewton's decay with Edith's detached beauty, emphasizing their strained relationship._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters/xli-new-voices-in-the-waves - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dombey_and_son_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/dombey_and_son_se/chapters