# XV explained — Memoirs of a Midget

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

## What happens

The narrator and the Bowaters celebrate New Year's Eve together, with Fanny mocking the parish concert and the trio singing 'Auld Lang Syne.' The narrator reads Wuthering Heights to Fanny, who grows listless. Fanny departs for school, promising to return by Thursday in Holy Week, leaving the narrator in despair.

## Themes in this chapter

### Solitude and Self-Discovery

The narrator's solitary vigil and reflection on Fanny's beauty, as well as the impending loneliness after her departure.

### Love and Obsession

The narrator's intense devotion to Fanny, reading to her, and despair at her leaving.

### Performance and Being on Show

Fanny's mockery of the concert performers and her own performative behavior during the evening.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown (Narrator)

Hosts the New Year's Eve vigil, reads Wuthering Heights to Fanny, and is left heartbroken by her departure.

### Fanny Bowater

Returns from the parish concert, mocks the performers, sits by the fire, and later grows listless before leaving for school.

### Mrs. Bowater

Prepares ginger wine, opens the front door at midnight, and joins in the New Year's celebration.

### Mr. Crimble

Mentioned as the subject of Fanny's mockery for his apology at the concert.

### Henry

The cat, first to cross the threshold into the new year, and yawns during Fanny's imitation of the cello.

### Midgetina

Fanny whispers 'Good night, Midgetina' to the narrator after midnight.

## Key lines

> Fanny herself, with musing head⁠—her mockings over⁠—was sitting drawn-up on a stool by the fire. I doubt if she was thinking.

Fanny sat quietly by the fire, no longer mocking, and the narrator wondered if she was thinking at all.

_Describes Fanny's contemplative stillness after the concert mockery._

> I turned towards the shape by the fire, and without her perceiving it, wafted kiss and prayer in her direction. Cold, careless Fanny⁠—further than Uranus.

The narrator silently blew a kiss and prayed for Fanny, feeling she was as distant and cold as the planet Uranus.

_Expresses the narrator's unrequited longing and sense of distance from Fanny._

> The very first sentence of this strange, dwelling book, was a spell: '1801.⁠—I have just returned from a visit to my landlord⁠—the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.'

The opening line of Wuthering Heights captivated them like a magical incantation.

_Highlights the power of literature to enchant and connect the characters._

> Thursday in Holy Week⁠— then she would be home again. I stared at the blessed day across the centuries as a condemned man stares in fancy at the scaffold awaiting him; but on mine hung all my hopes.

The narrator looked forward to Fanny's return on Thursday in Holy Week with the desperate hope of a condemned man awaiting execution.

_Conveys the narrator's intense anticipation and emotional dependence on Fanny's return._

## Links

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