Short Fiction · Chapter
Three Sundays in a Week explained
The narrator, Bobby, seeks his granduncle Rumgudgeon's consent to marry his cousin Kate.
What happens
The narrator, Bobby, seeks his granduncle Rumgudgeon's consent to marry his cousin Kate. Rumgudgeon, a stubborn and contradictory old man, jokingly sets the impossible condition that the wedding can only occur when three Sundays come together in a week. With the help of two naval friends who have just returned from circumnavigating the globe, Kate cleverly demonstrates that due to the Earth's rotation and the International Date Line effect, it is possible for three different people to each believe a different day is Sunday, thus fulfilling the condition.
Themes in this chapter
Duality and the Double
The story plays with the idea of multiple perspectives on time and reality, as three characters each have a different but equally valid claim to which day is Sunday.
Isolation and Alienation
The narrator feels isolated and powerless against his granduncle's arbitrary and contradictory nature, which creates a barrier to his happiness.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator, Bobby, is the young man seeking to marry his cousin Kate. He describes his granduncle's character and his own frustrations.
- Captain Pratt
A naval acquaintance of Kate who has just returned from a year-long voyage around Cape Horn. He insists that tomorrow is Sunday.
- Mr. Talbot
Not present; no character with this ID appears in the excerpt.
Key passages
“You hardheaded, dunder-headed, obstinate, rusty, crusty, musty, fusty, old savage!”
The narrator silently curses his granduncle as a stubborn and unpleasant old man.
This internal outburst reveals the narrator's true feelings of frustration and resentment.
“I say, you shall have Kate and her plum when three Sundays come together in a week—but not till then—you young scapegrace—not till then, if I die for it.”
Rumgudgeon sets an impossible condition for the marriage: it can only happen when three Sundays occur in a single week.
This is the central conflict of the story, a seemingly impossible riddle that the characters must solve.
“The fact is, we are all right, and thus three Sundays have come together in a week.”
Kate explains that due to their different positions relative to the Earth's rotation, each person's claim about which day is Sunday is correct, fulfilling the condition.
This is the clever resolution of the plot, using a scientific understanding of time zones and circumnavigation.