Erewhon · Chapter
XVI: Arowhena explained
The narrator reflects on his time with the Nosnibor family, expressing his dislike for Mr.
What happens
The narrator reflects on his time with the Nosnibor family, expressing his dislike for Mr. Nosnibor, Mrs. Nosnibor, and Zulora, but his deep affection for Arowhena. He falls in love with her but faces a cultural obstacle: the custom that the eldest unmarried daughter must marry first, which would require him to marry Zulora. He also recounts his interactions with the King, including a conversation about machines where he mentions balloons to avoid revealing advanced technology. The chapter delves into Erewhonian religious beliefs, including idolatry and the personification of human qualities as deities, and describes a theological debate between the narrator and Arowhena about the nature of justice and hope.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Hypocrisy
Erewhonian religion involves idolatry and personified deities, with a gap between professed and actual belief; the narrator debates Arowhena on the nature of justice and hope.
Wealth and Social Status
The narrator's pension and physical appearance (light hair) make him an eligible match, despite his dislike of the Nosnibors' worldliness.
Family and Parent-Child Relations
Arowhena is put upon by her family but remains unselfish; the custom of marrying the eldest daughter first dictates family dynamics.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
Falls in love with Arowhena, struggles with Erewhonian marriage customs, and debates religious beliefs with Arowhena.
- Arowhena
Described as perfection, graceful, and unselfish; the narrator's love interest; defends Erewhonian religious views.
- Zulora
The eldest daughter, handsome but disliked by the narrator; expected to marry him due to custom.
- Mr. Nosnibor
The narrator dislikes him for embezzling money; shows attention but not liked.
- Mrs. Nosnibor
Described as a very worldly woman; a devotee of Ydgrun.
- Ydgrun
Goddess worshipped by Mrs. Nosnibor and Zulora; associated with the Musical Banks.
Key passages
“She it was who ran all the little errands for her mother and Mr. Nosnibor and Zulora, and gave those thousand proofs of sweetness and unselfishness which some one member of a family is generally required to give.”
Arowhena was the family's selfless helper, always doing chores for others without complaint.
Highlights Arowhena's role as the family's unappreciated caretaker.
“I was expected to marry Zulora, for whom I had already conceived a great aversion.”
The narrator was pressured to wed Zulora, whom he strongly disliked.
Introduces the central conflict of the chapter regarding marriage customs.
“They will not punish with any less severity when people sin against them from ignorance, and without the chance of having had knowledge; they will take no excuses of this kind, but are even as the English law, which assumes itself to be known to everyone.”
Erewhonian deities punish ignorance as harshly as intentional wrongdoing, similar to English law's assumption of universal knowledge.
Satirizes rigid legal and religious systems that ignore intent.