The Inheritors · Chapter
XIII explained
The narrator visits his aunt in her immense Parisian salon, attempting to reveal the truth about the woman posing as his sister, but his aunt dismisses the matter and insists he stay at her home.
What happens
The narrator visits his aunt in her immense Parisian salon, attempting to reveal the truth about the woman posing as his sister, but his aunt dismisses the matter and insists he stay at her home. He accepts, feeling relief at avoiding confrontation, and becomes increasingly isolated and jealous as he observes the woman's activities. He writes articles for Polehampton, attends social functions with his aunt and the woman, and struggles with his own paralysis and obsession.
Themes in this chapter
Decline of the Old Order
The narrator's aunt embodies the fading aristocracy, isolated in her immense salon, 'waiting for the deluge,' and the narrator observes the 'last of a race, of a type.'
Alienation and Identity
The narrator feels intensely isolated in his aunt's house, unable to write or connect, and struggles with his false identity as the woman's 'brother.'
Love and Betrayal
The narrator's obsessive jealousy and desire for the woman who calls herself his sister, combined with his inability to confront the truth, drives the emotional tension.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
Visits his aunt's salon, attempts to reveal the truth about his 'sister,' but backs down; accepts invitation to stay; feels isolated and jealous.
- Mr. Fox
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Callan
Not directly present in this chapter.
- The Duc de Mersch
Mentioned as having disappeared; troubles in his grand duchy.
- Soane
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Gurnard
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Churchill
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Miss Churchill
Not directly present in this chapter.
- The Jenkins
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Lea
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Cromwell
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mrs. Hartly
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Polehampton
Mentioned as the editor for whom the narrator writes articles; sends cheques and praise.
- Miss Etchingham Granger
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Etchingham Granger
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Monsieur Radet
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Baron Halderschrodt
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mr. Evans
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Old Cal
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Miss Polehampton
Mentioned as liking the narrator's work.
- Neighbour Slingsby
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Willoughby
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Kenny Granger
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Charles Gurnard
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Arthur Edwards
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Jack
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Mrs. Etchingham Granger
Not directly present in this chapter.
- Effie
Not directly present in this chapter.
Key passages
“I was afraid of the knowledge. Light in these dark places might reveal an abyss at my feet. I wanted to let things slide.”
He dreaded discovering the full truth, fearing it would show a dangerous situation, so he preferred to avoid confronting it.
The narrator's reluctance to expose the woman's deception.
“She had a certain solitary grandeur, the pathos attaching to the last of a race, of a type; the air of waiting for the deluge, of listening for an inevitable sound—the sound of oncoming waters.”
The aunt seemed tragically majestic as the final representative of her class, anticipating an unavoidable collapse.
The decline of the old aristocratic order personified in the aunt.
“The panels of the room seemed to act as a sounding-board, the belly of an immense cello. There were never any noises in the house, only whispers coming from an immense distance—as when one drops stones down an unfathomable well and hears ages afterward the faint sound of disturbed waters.”
The house was so silent that even faint sounds seemed to echo from far away, like stones dropped into a deep well.
The oppressive, isolating atmosphere of the aunt's home.
