# New Prospects explained — Driven Back to Eden

> Chapter companion for Driven Back to Eden by Edward Payson Roe.

## What happens

The family decides to move to the country after much discussion, believing it will be best for the children's moral and physical well-being. Bobsey provides a divine justification, and each child expresses hopes for the new life: Merton wants adventure, Mousie a garden, Winnie chickens and freedom, and Bobsey a pig. The narrator begins planning the move, seeking a suitable location.

## Themes in this chapter

### Escape from City Life

The family decides to leave their narrow city rooms and the influence of neighbors like the Daggetts for a healthier, more virtuous country life.

### Return to Nature

Bobsey's comment about God placing the first people in a garden frames the move as a return to an idyllic, natural state.

### Moral Education and Discipline

The move is motivated by a desire to improve the children's behavior, with Winnie's restlessness and Bobsey's sense of shortcomings being key concerns.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The father and narrator, who takes on the task of finding the new farm and manages the family's excitement and planning.

### Bobsey

The youngest child, who interprets the move as a return to the Garden of Eden and dreams of owning a pig.

### Merton

The son who desires a region with Indians, bears, and big game, showing his adventurous spirit.

### Mousie

The tenderhearted daughter who looks forward to a large flower garden where roots can grow freely.

### Winnie

The impulsive and restless daughter, promised chickens and woodland rambles to distract her from Melissa Daggett.

### Melissa Daggett

A sly neighbor girl whose secrets lose their appeal for Winnie once the country move is promised.

## Key lines

> We’ll all be good soon, won’t we?

Bobsey expresses hope that the move will make the family behave better.

_Bobsey connects the country life with moral improvement, echoing his mother's teaching about the Garden of Eden._

> Mousie’s soft black eyes always lighted up at the prospect of a flower garden that should be as big as our sitting room.

Mousie's face brightens at the thought of a garden as large as their current apartment's sitting room.

_The garden symbolizes freedom and health for the frail Mousie, who had kept houseplants in the city._

> We were beginning to learn that we could no more keep her in our sitting room than we could restrain a mountain brook that foams into a rocky basin only to foam out again.

The narrator realizes that confining Winnie indoors is as impossible as stopping a mountain stream from flowing.

_Winnie's restless energy is compared to a natural force, justifying the move to the countryside._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se/chapters/iii-new-prospects
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se/chapters