IX explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Alienation and Belonging

  Miriam feels like an enemy among the group, struggles with the insincerity of the others, and finds a fleeting sense of belonging only in silent communion with Pastor Lahmann.

• Inner vs. Outer World

  Miriam's internal experience of the music and the evening contrasts sharply with the affected, 'bright' behavior she perceives in the other girls.

• Gender Roles and Social Expectations

  The girls are expected to be charming and bright in the presence of male students, and Fräulein Pfaff enforces social propriety by denying the dance request and disapproving of Miriam's silent connection with Pastor Lahmann.

Characters to notice

• Miriam

  Feels tense and alienated during the ride, finds solace in the music and later in silent communion with Pastor Lahmann, but is disturbed by Fräulein's disgust.

• Gertrude Goldring

  Loud and laughing, she steers Miriam around and mentions a friend of hers, possibly Erica's brother.

• Fräulein Pfaff

  Denies the students' request to dance, and later shows disgust and loathing toward Miriam's silent exchange with Pastor Lahmann.

• Pastor Lahmann

  Smiling and insincere at first, but later engages in a quiet, grave communion with Miriam during the drive back.

• Emma Bergmann

  Sits warm at Miriam's side during the return drive, with her hand on Miriam's arm under a mass of fern and grasses.

• Millie

  Noted as not being horrid like the others, looking pudgy, babyish, surprised, and half resentful.

Key passages

• “She had sat tense and averted, seeing the general greenery, feeling that the cool flowing air might be great happiness, conscious of each form and each voice, of the insincerity of the exclamations and the babble of conversation that struggled above the noise of their going, half seeing Pastor Lahmann opposite to her, a little insincerely smiling man in an alpaca suit and a soft felt hat.”

  Miriam sat stiffly, looking away, aware that the fresh air could have been wonderful, but instead she was hyper-aware of everyone's false cheer and chatter, and she saw Pastor Lahmann as a slightly insincere man in a soft hat.

  Miriam's alienation and critical perception of the group and Pastor Lahmann.

• “It seemed to Miriam that the sound of a far-off sea was in them, and the wind and the movement of distant trees and the shedding and pouring of faraway moonlight.”

  To Miriam, the waltz music evoked a distant sea, wind, trees, and moonlight.

  Miriam's deep, poetic response to the music contrasts with the others' affected behavior.

• “She felt that only he could feel the beauty of the evening exactly as she did. Several times she met and quietly contemplated his dark eyes. She felt that there was someone in those eyes who was neither tiresome nor tame.”

  Miriam believed Pastor Lahmann alone shared her appreciation of the evening's beauty, and she found in his eyes a kindred spirit who was not dull or conventional.

  Miriam's sense of connection with Pastor Lahmann.