# III explained — Memoirs of a Midget

> Chapter companion for Memoirs of a Midget by Walter de la Mare.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on her childhood education, her love of small books and natural observation, her encounter with a dead mole and a wounded bird, and her religious confirmation at seventeen.

## Themes in this chapter

### Solitude and Self-Discovery

The narrator spends much of her childhood alone, studying, observing nature, and reflecting on her own thoughts and sensations.

### Nature and the Sublime

The narrator finds wonder in small natural objects (a nut, a shell, a drop of rainwater) and confronts mortality through the dead mole.

### Mortality and Memory

The discovery of the maggot-ridden mole carcass and the killing of the wren force the narrator to confront death and decay.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown (Narrator)

Recounts her early lessons, solitary studies, and moral awakenings.

### Mrs. Bowater

Teaches the narrator about God's creation and oversees her education.

### Mr. Bowater

Buys tiny books for the narrator and uses 'Hail Energeia!' to encourage her to eat.

### Miss Fenne

Mentioned as a contrast; the narrator briefly becomes a 'diminutive Miss Fenne' after confirmation.

### Adam Waggett

Kills a Jenny Wren with a catapult; the narrator confronts him.

### Pollie

Shares luncheon with the narrator; the narrator turns away from watching her eat meat.

## Key lines

> Then God made the world, mamma? ... And all things in the forests and the birds in the sky and—and moles, and this?

The narrator asks her mother if God created everything, including the arithmetic book she is holding.

_Shows the narrator's early theological curiosity and her mother's gentle response._

> I stumbled on the carcass of a young mole. Curiosity vanquished the first gulp of horror. ... 'Ah, ha!' a voice cried within me, 'so this is what is in wait; this is how things are'

Finding a dead mole filled with maggots, the narrator feels a shock of recognition about the reality of death and decay.

_A pivotal moment of existential awakening for the narrator._

> I was sitting in the garden one day watching in the distance a jay ... Suddenly there fell a sharp crack of sound. ... And I cried hollowly out of my concealment, 'Adam, what have you there?'

The narrator witnesses Adam Waggett shoot a bird with a catapult and confronts him in anger.

_Illustrates the narrator's moral outrage at cruelty to animals._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/memoirs_of_a_midget_se/chapters/iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/memoirs_of_a_midget_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/memoirs_of_a_midget_se/chapters