# XXI: The Dark Night explained — North and South > Chapter companion for North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. ## What happens Margaret and her father walk home after a dinner party, discussing Mr. Thornton's anxiety over the strike and Margaret's prejudice against manufacturers. Upon returning, they find Mrs. Hale gravely ill. Dr. Donaldson attends to her, and Margaret spends a sleepless night watching over her mother. The next day, Margaret is sent to borrow a water-bed from Mrs. Thornton, but on the way she senses a growing, ominous unrest among the workers in Milton. ## Themes in this chapter ### Social Class and Industrial Conflict The strike and the growing anger of the workers are central to the chapter, as seen in the conversation about Thornton and Boucher, and the ominous crowd gathering outside. ### Family and Loyalty Margaret's devotion to her mother and father is highlighted as she watches over Mrs. Hale and tries to comfort her father. ### Duty and Sacrifice Margaret sacrifices her own rest and comfort to care for her mother, and her father sacrifices his peace to sit up through the night. ## Character check-ins ### Margaret Hale Walks home with her father, discusses Thornton and the strike, then tends to her mother through the night; later goes to borrow a water-bed from Mrs. Thornton. ### Mr. Hale Walks home with Margaret, defends Thornton's character, then is deeply distressed by Mrs. Hale's illness and sits up through the night. ### John Thornton Discussed by Margaret and Mr. Hale; noted for his anxious demeanor and cool manner regarding the strike. ### Mrs. Hale Falls gravely ill; attended by Dr. Donaldson; Margaret watches over her through the night. ### Dixon Opens the door to Margaret and Mr. Hale with a fearful face; refuses to go to bed but falls asleep watching. ### Dr. Donaldson Attends Mrs. Hale, advises rest, and suggests borrowing a water-bed from Mrs. Thornton. ### Mrs. Thornton Mentioned as the owner of a water-bed that Margaret is sent to borrow. ### John Boucher Referenced in Margaret and Mr. Hale's conversation about the strike and his desperate state. ## Key lines > On earth is known to none The smile that is not sister to a tear. No joy on earth exists without an accompanying sorrow. _Epigraph foreshadowing the chapter's blend of social tension and personal grief._ > I rather think Thornton is not quite easy in his mind about this strike. He seemed very anxious tonight. I suspect Thornton is worried about the strike; he appeared uneasy this evening. _Margaret observes Thornton's anxiety, setting up the industrial conflict theme._ > He must know of the growing anger and hardly smothered hatred of his workpeople, who all looked upon him as what the Bible calls a 'hard man,'—not so much unjust as unfeeling; clear in judgment, standing upon his 'rights' as no human being ought to stand. He must be aware of the workers' barely concealed anger and hatred, seeing him as a harsh, unfeeling man who insists on his rights excessively. _Margaret criticizes Thornton's rigidity, highlighting class conflict._ > Far away in time, far away in space, seemed all the interests of past days. Not more than thirty-six hours ago, she cared for Bessy Higgins and her father, and her heart was wrung for Boucher; now, that was all like a dreaming memory of some former life;—everything that had passed out of doors seemed dissevered from her mother, and therefore unreal. The concerns of just a day and a half ago, like Bessy Higgins and Boucher, now felt distant and dreamlike, disconnected from the reality of her mother's illness. _Margaret's perspective shifts entirely due to her mother's crisis, emphasizing the theme of family loyalty._ > What a vain show Life seemed! How unsubstantial, and flickering, and flitting! It was as if from some aerial belfry, high up above the stir and jar of the earth, there was a bell continually tolling, 'All are shadows!—all are passing!—all is past!' Life appeared fleeting and insubstantial, like a bell tolling that everything is transient and gone. _Margaret's existential reflection on mortality during her mother's illness._ > She did not know what they meant—what was their deep significance; while she did know, did feel the keen sharp pressure of the knife that was soon to stab her through and through by leaving her motherless. She was unaware of the crowd's deeper meaning, but she acutely felt the impending pain of losing her mother. _Margaret's emotional state as she goes to borrow the water-bed, oblivious to the brewing riot._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/north_and_south_se/chapters/xxi-the-dark-night - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/north_and_south_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/north_and_south_se/chapters