The Mill on the Floss · Chapter
Tom Comes Home explained
Tom returns home from school, and he and Maggie share a joyful reunion.
What happens
Tom returns home from school, and he and Maggie share a joyful reunion. They go fishing at the Round Pool, where Tom shows his practical knowledge and Maggie admires him. After a quarrel, Maggie runs away in distress, but Tom eventually forgives her, and they reconcile. The chapter highlights their deep bond and the simplicity of childhood.
Themes in this chapter
Family Obligation and Conflict
Tom and Maggie's sibling relationship involves both deep affection and conflict, with Tom feeling responsible for Maggie's behavior and Maggie seeking his love.
Gender Roles and Limitations
Tom dismisses Maggie's book knowledge as 'stuff' and values practical skills, reflecting the era's gender expectations.
Nature and the Individual
The Round Pool and the river Floss are central to the children's happiness and symbolize the unchanging world of their childhood.
Characters to notice
- Maggie Tulliver
Maggie is overjoyed at Tom's return, seeks his approval, and is deeply affected by their quarrels and reconciliations.
- Tom Tulliver
Tom returns from school, brings Maggie a fishing line, and asserts his authority while showing affection for his sister.
- Mrs. Tulliver
Mrs. Tulliver fusses over Tom's appearance and worries about Maggie's whereabouts.
- Mr. Tulliver
Mr. Tulliver scolds Tom for being hard on Maggie and shows his fondness for her.
Key passages
“Tom thought people were at a disadvantage who lived on any other spot of the globe; and Maggie, when she read about Christiana passing 'the river over which there is no bridge,' always saw the Floss between the green pastures by the Great Ash.”
Tom believed their home was the best place in the world, and Maggie imagined the river Floss when she read about a symbolic river in a story.
This shows how deeply the children are attached to their home landscape.
“It is a wonderful subduer, this need of love—this hunger of the heart—as peremptory as that other hunger by which Nature forces us to submit to the yoke, and change the face of the world.”
The need for love is as powerful and compelling as physical hunger, driving people to humble themselves.
The narrator reflects on Maggie's overwhelming desire for Tom's forgiveness.