# XIII: Baxter Dawes explained — Sons and Lovers > Chapter companion for Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence. ## What happens Paul and Clara's relationship is strained as they confront their emotional distance and the lingering presence of Baxter Dawes. After a public confrontation in a pub where Dawes insults Paul about his evening with Clara, Paul suffers a bicycle accident and becomes increasingly detached from Clara, Miriam, and his mother. He takes a holiday with a friend, but upon returning to Sheffield, he finds his mother gravely ill, leading to a devastating emotional breakdown. ## Themes in this chapter ### Love as Possession vs. Freedom Clara feels Paul never truly comes near her, while Paul resents her preference for Baxter's ability to be more open; their relationship is marked by a struggle for emotional possession and independence. ### Marital Discord and Alienation Clara and Baxter Dawes are estranged; Baxter's bitterness and Clara's guilt highlight the breakdown of their marriage, with Paul caught in the middle. ### Death, Grief, and Loss Paul's premonition of loss and his intense grief upon finding his mother ill foreshadow her impending death, echoing earlier themes of mortality. ## Character check-ins ### Paul Morel Struggles with emotional detachment from Clara, Miriam, and his mother; experiences a violent confrontation with Baxter Dawes; suffers a bicycle accident; breaks down upon finding his mother ill. ### Clara Dawes Feels a sense of self-assurance but acknowledges her relationship with Paul is temporary; encounters Baxter Dawes with Paul; expresses dissatisfaction with Paul's emotional distance. ### Baxter Dawes Appears worn and desperate; publicly insults Paul about his evening with Clara; engages in a physical altercation with Paul at the pub. ### Gertrude Morel Ill and distant; agrees to stay with Annie in Sheffield; Paul finds her in bed, looking ashen, leading to his emotional breakdown. ### Miriam Leivers Visits Paul but feels like a stranger to him; Paul admits he no longer cares about her. ### Annie Morel Lives in Sheffield; lets Paul into the house and informs him of their mother's illness. ## Key lines > She felt a certain surety about him that she never felt with Paul Morel. Her passion for the young man had filled her soul, given her a certain satisfaction, eased her of her self-mistrust, her doubt. Clara felt more confident with Baxter than with Paul, as her passion for Baxter had resolved her inner doubts. _Clara reflects on the emotional security she once felt with Baxter, contrasting it with her uncertain relationship with Paul._ > Together they had received the baptism of life, each through the other; but now their missions were separate. Paul and Clara had been transformed by their relationship, but they now had to go their own ways. _The narrator describes the couple's mutual growth and inevitable separation._ > He felt puzzled, and helpless, and angry. There she walked unknown to him, though they had been through such experience together. Paul was confused and frustrated that Clara remained a mystery to him despite their intimacy. _Paul's realization of emotional distance despite physical closeness._ > He was terrified of something; he dared not look at her. Her eyes seemed to grow darker, her face more waxen; still she dragged about at her work. Paul was afraid to face his mother, whose appearance was becoming increasingly pale and sickly as she continued her chores. _Paul's growing dread and his mother's declining health are subtly portrayed._ > He only fell on his knees at the bedside, and buried his face in the bedclothes, crying in agony, and saying: 'Mother—mother—mother!' Paul collapsed at his mother's bedside, sobbing in anguish and calling out to her repeatedly. _Paul's emotional breakdown upon seeing his mother's grave condition._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sons_and_lovers_se/chapters/part-ii-xiii-baxter-dawes - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sons_and_lovers_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/sons_and_lovers_se/chapters