VI explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Internal Conflict and Identity

  Andrews is torn between his promise to go to Lewes and his desire to stay with Elizabeth; he adopts the false name 'Absolom' and struggles with his sense of self.

• Fear and Paranoia

  Andrews views Lewes as a 'dark and terrifying enemy,' feels that 'every man is against me,' and is constantly suspicious of others, including Mr. Farne.

• Isolation and Alienation

  Andrews feels alone and friendless, longing for companionship yet unable to trust; he reflects that 'none are on my side save outcasts and the hoard of strangers.'

Characters to notice

• Francis Andrews

  Wakes in the cottage, struggles with his promise to go to Lewes, leaves his knife, travels to Lewes, meets Mr. Farne, drinks and speaks incautiously about the smugglers.

• Elizabeth

  Andrews thinks of her voice and face; he leaves his knife as a potential gift for her, but she is absent from the room.

• Mr. Farne

  Finds Andrews in the street, mistakes him for Mr. Absolom, offers him dinner and lodging, leads him to Sir Henry Merriman.

• Sir Henry Merriman

  Revealed at the end of the chapter as the person Mr. Farne ushers Andrews to see.

Key passages

• “I am leaving here, he thought, I have promised to go, and he thought of Lewes as a dark and terrifying enemy, lying in wait for him to trip him up and fling him backwards into death.”

  Andrews remembers his promise to leave for Lewes, which he imagines as a menacing foe ready to destroy him.

  Highlights Andrews's fear and internal conflict about his impending journey.

• “I will go to Lewes, he thought, but I will leave again before the Assizes open.”

  Andrews plans to go to Lewes only briefly, intending to flee before the trial begins.

  Shows his attempt to evade full commitment to his promise.

• “He opened the blade and stroked it. It was clean and sharp and on it, very roughly engraved, a schoolboy’s first experiment with acids, was his name. It’s my only weapon, he thought. It’s of more use to me than to her.”

  Andrews considers leaving his knife for Elizabeth but decides to keep it for his own protection.

  Illustrates his selfishness and the tension between gratitude and self-preservation.

• “I can get another in Lewes, he told himself, and he shut the door of the cottage behind him. But it is far to Lewes, he thought, robbed suddenly of four sheltering walls, alone in a bare, chill, hostile world.”

  Andrews leaves the cottage, rationalizing that he can replace the knife, but immediately feels exposed and vulnerable.

  Emphasizes his isolation and the harshness of the world outside.

• “What in hell do you mean, he said, by my friends? They are no friends of mine.”

  Andrews angrily denies any connection to the smugglers when Mr. Farne refers to them as his friends.

  Reveals Andrews's paranoia and desire to distance himself from the smugglers.

• “If you want to stamp out smuggling you must do away with the idea of justice.”

  Andrews cynically suggests that justice is impossible in Lewes because the community is complicit in smuggling.

  Reflects his disillusionment with the legal system and his sense of injustice.