The Inevitable Movement Onward explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Isolation and Loneliness

  Clym's withdrawal from social life and his solitary walks on the heath exemplify his deep isolation and inability to move past his grief.

• Fate and Destiny

  The narrative reflects on the unforeseen factors that shape lives and legacies, as seen in Clym's meditations on the ancient inhabitants of the heath and the randomness of fortune.

• Love and Marriage

  Thomasin's widowhood and the possibility of new romantic attachments, particularly with Diggory Venn, are central to the chapter's emotional dynamics.

Characters to notice

• Thomasin Yeobright

  Now a widow and mother, Thomasin inherits nearly ten thousand pounds from Wildeve's estate and moves to Blooms-End. She is comforted by her daughter and gradually returns to a brighter demeanor, though she remains modest in her lifestyle.

• Clym Yeobright

  Clym lives in seclusion at Blooms-End, consumed by sorrow and self-reproach. He walks the heath alone, reflecting on the past, and is distressed by the possibility that Thomasin's interest in him may be romantic.

• Diggory Venn

  Venn has abandoned his reddle trade and now appears in ordinary clothing, having taken up his father's dairy farm of fifty cows. He lingers near the Maypole after the festivities, ostensibly to look for a lost glove, but clearly still interested in Thomasin.

• Grandfer Cantle

  Mentioned as a visitor to Blooms-End, his light step and gay tune are recognized by Clym through the house's sounds.

• Humphrey

  His heavy footsteps crossing the kitchen floor are among the sounds Clym hears from his room.

• Timothy Fairway

  His footsteps are also noted among the sounds of daily life at Blooms-End.

Key passages

• “The story of the deaths of Eustacia and Wildeve was told throughout Egdon, and far beyond, for many weeks and months. All the known incidents of their love were enlarged, distorted, touched up, and modified, till the original reality bore but a slight resemblance to the counterfeit presentation by surrounding tongues.”

  The tale of Eustacia and Wildeve's deaths spread widely and was embellished so much that the truth became almost unrecognizable.

  This opening highlights how gossip and legend distort reality, a recurring theme in the novel.

• “He had no enemies, and he could get nobody to reproach him, which was why he so bitterly reproached himself.”

  Because no one else blamed him, Clym turned all his guilt inward, becoming his own harshest critic.

  This line captures Clym's profound self-blame and psychological state after the tragedy.

• “His imagination would then people the spot with its ancient inhabitants: forgotten Celtic tribes trod their tracks about him, and he could almost live among them, look in their faces, and see them standing beside the barrows which swelled around, untouched and perfect as at the time of their erection.”

  Clym's mind filled the heath with the ghosts of ancient Celts, allowing him to feel connected to a timeless past.

  This passage reflects Clym's deep connection to the heath and his tendency to escape into historical reverie.

• “Red, and all approach to red, was carefully excluded from every article of clothes upon him; for what is there that persons just out of harness dread so much as reminders of the trade which has enriched them?”

  Venn's new clothes avoided any hint of red, showing how people who have left a trade dislike being reminded of it.

  This observation underscores Venn's transformation and his desire to leave his reddle past behind.

• “Every pulse of loverlike feeling which had not been stilled during Eustacia's lifetime had gone into the grave with her. His passion for her had occurred too far on in his manhood to leave fuel enough on hand for another fire of that sort, as may happen with more boyish loves.”

  Clym's capacity for romantic love died with Eustacia; his passion was too mature to be rekindled easily.

  This explains Clym's emotional unavailability and his distress at the possibility of Thomasin's interest.