Erewhon Revisited · Chapter
My Father Is Escorted to the Mayor’s House, and Is Introduced to a Future Daughter-in-Law explained
My father is escorted to the Mayor's house, where he meets the Mayor and Yram, discusses financial arrangements for George, and is introduced to the Mayor's family, including a future daughter-in-law.
What happens
My father is escorted to the Mayor's house, where he meets the Mayor and Yram, discusses financial arrangements for George, and is introduced to the Mayor's family, including a future daughter-in-law. He also discovers that Yram has kept tokens of their past connection.
Themes in this chapter
Family and Legacy
The chapter focuses on my father's arrangements for George's inheritance and his interactions with the Mayor's family.
Memory and Nostalgia
My father reflects on his past with Yram and is moved by the tokens she has kept.
Characters to notice
- My Father
Is escorted to the Mayor's house, meets the Mayor and Yram, discusses George's inheritance, and is introduced to the Mayor's family.
- Yram
Arranges for my father's rest, gives him a box containing mementos from their past, and introduces him to her granddaughter.
- George
Is mentioned as being occupied with a report and is the subject of financial arrangements between my father and the Mayor.
- Mrs. Humdrum
Her granddaughter is introduced to my father as a future daughter-in-law.
Key passages
“My father said he was followed to the Mayor’s house by a good many people, whom the Mayor’s sons in vain tried to get rid of.”
A crowd followed my father to the Mayor's house, and the Mayor's sons could not disperse them.
Describes the public attention my father attracted.
“I have a small joke, the only one I ever made, which I inflict periodically upon my wife. You, and I suppose George, are the only two other people in the world to whom it can ever be told; let me see, then, if I cannot break the ice with it.”
The Mayor shares his only joke to ease the tension between them.
The Mayor uses humor to address the unusual situation.
“He was awed at the goodness and beauty with which he found himself surrounded.”
My father felt overwhelmed by the kindness and attractiveness of the Mayor's family.
Reflects my father's emotional state during the visit.
“On the top was a paper with the words, 'Look—say nothing—forget.' Beneath this was some cotton wool, and then—the two buttons and the lock of his own hair, that he had given Yram when he said goodbye to her.”
Yram had kept the buttons and lock of hair my father gave her years ago, with a note instructing him to look, say nothing, and forget.
Reveals Yram's long-held sentimental attachment.