# LXXVIII explained — Of Human Bondage

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

## What happens

Philip waits in agony for Mildred's return, but she never comes back. He receives a letter from Griffiths apologizing for running off with Mildred, and when he goes to her lodgings, he finds she has taken her things and left. Overcome with grief and self-disgust, he flees London for the comfort of his uncle's vicarage at Blackstable.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Disillusionment

Philip endures profound emotional pain from Mildred's repeated betrayals and feels utterly disillusioned with love and human nature.

### Freedom and Determinism

Philip reflects on his lack of self-control, feeling driven by instincts and emotions like a machine, powerless to alter his fate.

### Love and Obsession

Philip's obsessive love for Mildred persists despite her cruelty, leading him to contemplate murder and suicide.

## Character check-ins

### Philip Carey

Philip reflects on his weak will and lack of self-control, suffers intensely over Mildred's betrayal, and retreats to Blackstable.

### Mildred Rogers

Mildred deceives Philip again by staying in Oxford with Griffiths and then leaving her London lodgings without contacting him.

### Griffiths

Griffiths writes a remorseful letter to Philip, apologizing for running off with Mildred and asking for forgiveness.

### Hayward

Philip is glad Hayward was not in London, as he would have told him everything and been ashamed of his weakness.

### William Carey

Philip telegraphs his uncle and returns to the vicarage at Blackstable for solace.

## Key lines

> It seemed to him that he was swayed by every light emotion, as though he were a leaf in the wind, and when passion seized him he was powerless.

Philip felt he had no control over his emotions, being tossed about by every passing feeling like a leaf in the wind.

_Philip's self-analysis of his weak will and susceptibility to passion._

> He acted as though he were a machine driven by the two forces of his environment and his personality; his reason was someone looking on, observing the facts but powerless to interfere.

Philip saw himself as a machine propelled by his surroundings and character, with his reason merely a passive observer.

_Philip's deterministic view of human action, comparing reason to the gods of Epicurus._

> He thought the letter cowardly and hypocritical. He was disgusted at its sentimentality.

Philip found Griffiths' apology contemptible and insincere, full of cheap sentiment.

_Philip's harsh judgment of Griffiths' remorseful letter._

## Links

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