# XXXIV explained — The Painted Veil

> Chapter companion for The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham.

## What happens

Kitty spends her days alone in the bungalow while Walter works, haunted by fear of the cholera epidemic and her own trapped circumstances. She contemplates escape but realizes she has nowhere to go—not to her mother, and not to Charlie, who rejected her. Her anger and humiliation fester as she recalls Walter's harsh words.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Growth

Kitty's isolation and terror in the face of the plague force her to confront her own helplessness and the consequences of her choices.

### Self-Deception and Truth

Kitty's fantasies of escape and reunion with Charlie clash with the painful truth of his rejection and her own shame.

## Character check-ins

### Kitty Fane

Alone and frightened, she wrestles with panic and fantasies of escape, but feels trapped by her situation and the memory of Charlie's rejection.

### Walter Fane

Distant and rarely speaking, he answers Kitty's questions about the plague with a chilling nonchalance.

### Waddington

Mentioned as a source of information about the cholera epidemic, along with the amah.

### Charles Townsend

Kitty longs to go to him but knows he does not want her; she imagines his sullen look and hardness.

### Mrs. Garstin

Kitty considers but rejects the idea of returning to her mother, who would be unwelcoming.

## Key lines

> The people were dying at the rate of a hundred a day, and hardly any of those who were attacked by the disease recovered from it; the gods had been brought out from the abandoned temples and placed in the streets; offerings were laid before them and sacrifices made, but they did not stay the plague.

The cholera was killing a hundred people daily, with almost no survivors; the locals brought out their gods and made offerings, but the plague continued unabated.

_Highlights the severity of the epidemic and the futility of religious rituals in the face of disaster._

> She thought of throwing herself on the mercy of Waddington, telling him everything and beseeching him to help her to get back to Hong Kong.

Kitty considered confessing everything to Waddington and begging him to help her escape to Hong Kong.

_Shows Kitty's desperation and her impulse to seek help from an outsider._

> She wanted to go to Charlie, and he did not want her. She knew what he would say if she suddenly appeared before him. She saw the sullen look of his face and the shrewd hardness behind his charming eyes.

Kitty longed to return to Charlie, but she knew he would reject her; she could picture his sullen expression and the calculating coldness beneath his charm.

_Reveals Kitty's painful awareness of Charlie's true nature and her own self-deception._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters/xxxiv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_painted_veil_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_painted_veil_se/chapters