# CXXII explained — Of Human Bondage

> Chapter companion for Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.

## What happens

Philip waits for Sally at the National Gallery, tormented by a brief mistaken sighting of Mildred. When Sally arrives, she reveals her pregnancy scare was a false alarm. Philip, who had resigned himself to marrying her, is initially dismayed at his regained freedom but quickly realizes he truly wants a life with her. He proposes, and Sally accepts.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Obsession

Philip's lingering, painful obsession with Mildred contrasts with his genuine, healthy love for Sally.

### Freedom and Determinism

Philip grapples with the freedom of his regained independence versus the deterministic pull toward a simple, domestic life.

### The Search for Meaning

Philip reflects on his lifelong pursuit of ideals versus the present happiness he finds in love and marriage.

## Character check-ins

### Philip Carey

Experiences a moment of panic when he mistakes a stranger for Mildred, then proposes to Sally after realizing he wants a home and love more than travel.

### Sally Athelny

Meets Philip at the National Gallery; informs him her pregnancy suspicion was false, and accepts his marriage proposal.

### Mildred Rogers

Mentioned as a lingering obsession; Philip mistakes a stranger for her and feels a lasting, desperate thirst for her.

### Doctor South

Mentioned via telegram; Philip has written to him about a job offer.

## Key lines

> He had repeated to himself exactly what he would say to her and how he should say it.

Philip had rehearsed his proposal to Sally many times.

_Shows his anticipation and nervousness about the proposal._

> Would he never be free from that passion? At the bottom of his heart, notwithstanding everything, he felt that a strange, desperate thirst for that vile woman would always linger.

Philip fears he will never fully escape his obsessive desire for Mildred.

_Highlights the lasting trauma of his toxic relationship with Mildred._

> It was as though he had sailed for many years over a great waste of waters, with peril and privation, and at last had come upon a fair haven, but as he was about to enter, some contrary wind had arisen and drove him out again into the open sea

Philip feels like a sailor who, after a long and difficult voyage, is blown away from a safe harbor just as he is about to reach it.

_Metaphor for his despair at losing the future he had imagined with Sally._

> I don't care a damn about all that.

Philip dismisses his previous travel plans as unimportant.

_Signals his shift in priorities from adventure to love and domesticity._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters/cxxii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/of_human_bondage_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/of_human_bondage_se/chapters