Hudson River Bracketed · Chapter
XXI explained
Vance and Laura Lou marry in a small Long Island town and travel to a secluded beach shanty for their honeymoon.
What happens
Vance and Laura Lou marry in a small Long Island town and travel to a secluded beach shanty for their honeymoon. Vance's thoughts drift between his philosophical disillusionment with religion, his desire to repay Bunty Hayes's loan, and his awe at the sea, while Laura Lou's quiet happiness and exhaustion reveal her vulnerability.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
Vance and Laura Lou's wedding and honeymoon highlight the tension between romantic idealism and practical realities.
The Pursuit of Wealth and Success
Vance's anxiety over repaying Bunty Hayes's loan reflects his desire for financial independence and success.
Spirituality and Religious Hypocrisy
Vance's disillusionment with organized religion contrasts with his earlier invented pantheism.
Characters to notice
- Vance Weston
Newly married to Laura Lou, Vance is ecstatic but conflicted, reflecting on his loss of religious faith and his determination to repay Bunty Hayes's loan.
- Laura Lou
Vance's bride, who is quietly overwhelmed with happiness and exhaustion, trusting Vance completely despite the rustic honeymoon setting.
- Bunty Hayes
Mentioned as the lender of a thousand-dollar loan to Mrs. Tracy, which Vance is anxious to repay.
- Mrs. Tracy
Laura Lou's mother, who is away and will find a letter revealing the marriage and a partial repayment of Bunty Hayes's loan.
Key passages
“The religious ceremony, it was true, had been agreed on beforehand, as a concession to her prejudices, and to her fear of her mother.”
Vance agreed to the church wedding only to satisfy Laura Lou's beliefs and to avoid upsetting her mother.
Shows Vance's pragmatic view of marriage and religion.
“He hoped to wipe out the debt within two or three months; then the last shadow would be lifted from his happiness.”
Vance believed that repaying the loan would remove the final obstacle to his joy.
Highlights Vance's obsession with financial independence.
“Once in most lives things turn out as the dreamer dreamed them. This was Vance's day.”
Rarely do dreams come true, but for Vance this day was perfect.
Captures the chapter's tone of fleeting bliss.