# A Voyage Up the Hudson explained — Driven Back to Eden > Chapter companion for Driven Back to Eden by Edward Payson Roe. ## What happens The family embarks on a steamboat voyage up the Hudson River, departing the city in a storm. The narrator uses the journey to teach his children about courage and forward-looking attitudes, contrasting the excitement of the voyage with the vulgar stories of Melissa Daggett. They observe the machinery, listen to a cattle dealer's conversation about country food, and eventually settle into a stateroom as the storm intensifies. ## Themes in this chapter ### Escape from City Life The family's departure from the city on the steamboat marks a physical and symbolic break from urban life, as they head toward a new rural existence. ### Family and Parental Duty The narrator actively teaches his children during the voyage, using the storm and machinery as lessons in courage and forward-looking attitudes, while also ensuring their comfort and safety. ### Health and Wellbeing The narrator reassures Mousie that they will 'paint her cheeks red' with strawberries and raspberries, emphasizing a natural, wholesome diet for health. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown Guides the children during the voyage, using the storm and steamboat as lessons in courage and forward-looking attitudes. ### Mousie Frail and timid, clings to the narrator during the storm but finds amusement in the warm cabin; later rests in a stateroom with her mother. ### Winnie Excited and curious, her bold black eyes flash with excitement; expresses ambition to become a lady, which the narrator uses as a lever for her character. ### Bobsey Sturdy and indifferent to laughter, eats heartily and makes passengers laugh; later sleeps in the upper berth of a stateroom. ### Merton Prowls around the boat with Winnie and the narrator during the storm, wondering how the pilot navigates. ### Mrs. Durham Shivers at the stormy view but encourages the children to watch the machinery; later shares a stateroom with Mousie. ## Key lines > “Now,” I asked, “shall we go to the afterdeck and take our last look at the city, or forward and see the river and whither we are going?” “Forward! forward!” cried all in chorus. “That’s the difference between youth and age,” I thought. “With the young it is always ‘forward.’ ” The narrator asks whether the children want to look back at the city or ahead toward the river, and they all choose forward, prompting him to reflect that youth is naturally oriented toward the future. _Illustrates the theme of forward-looking optimism and the contrast between youth and age._ > “I want to see everything and know everything,” she said. “I wish you to see and know about things like these,” I replied, “but not such things as Melissa Daggett would show you.” Winnie expresses a desire to learn about everything, and the narrator encourages her curiosity while steering her away from the vulgar stories of Melissa Daggett. _Highlights the narrator's role in guiding the children's moral and intellectual development._ > “Don’t you be troubled, Mousie; we won’t go to the frying pan altogether to find roses for your cheeks. We’ll paint them red with strawberries and raspberries, the color put on from the inside.” The narrator comforts Mousie by promising that their new country life will give her healthy, rosy cheeks through fresh fruit rather than greasy food. _Emphasizes the theme of health and wellbeing through natural, wholesome living._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se/chapters/xi-a-voyage-up-the-hudson - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se/chapters