The Return of the Native · Chapter
II: Humanity Appears Upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble explained
An old man, a decayed naval officer, walks across Egdon Heath and meets a reddleman driving a lurid red van.
What happens
An old man, a decayed naval officer, walks across Egdon Heath and meets a reddleman driving a lurid red van. The reddleman, Diggory Venn, carries a young woman inside the van—Thomasin Yeobright, who has been jilted by Wildeve. The old man inquires about her but is rebuffed. After parting, the reddleman rests his horses and watches the heath. On a distant barrow, a solitary woman (Eustacia Vye) stands motionless, then vanishes as a group of men arrive to light a bonfire.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Landscape
Egdon Heath is depicted as vast, lonely, and timeless, with the barrow and the solitary figure blending into a 'strangely homogeneous' scene. The heath's 'repose of incredible slowness' mirrors the characters' emotional states.
Isolation and Loneliness
The chapter emphasizes the loneliness of the heath and its inhabitants: the old man walking alone, the reddleman's solitary vigil, and Eustacia's isolated figure on the barrow, 'queen of the solitude.'
Social Class and Ambition
Venn's bitter remark that Thomasin is 'above mating with such as I' highlights class divisions. The old man's naval background and the reddleman's lowly trade underscore social hierarchies.
Characters to notice
- Diggory Venn
The reddleman, young and handsome despite his red-stained appearance, drives a van carrying Thomasin Yeobright. He is protective and melancholy, revealing that Thomasin is 'above mating with such as I.'
- Thomasin Yeobright
The young woman inside the van, asleep and restless. She has been jilted by Wildeve and is being transported home by Venn.
- Eustacia Vye
A solitary figure standing atop Rainbarrow, described as 'queen of the solitude.' She descends and vanishes as a group of men approach to light a bonfire.
- Captain Vye
The old man walking the road, white-headed and bowed, using a silver-headed stick. He was once a naval officer and engages the reddleman in conversation.
- Timothy Fairway
Implied among the group of men who ascend the barrow with burdens to light the bonfire, though not explicitly named in this chapter.
- Grandfer Cantle
Implied among the group of men on the barrow, as part of the bonfire party.
- Christian Cantle
Implied among the group of men on the barrow, as part of the bonfire party.
Key passages
“He was one of a class rapidly becoming extinct in Wessex, filling at present in the rural world the place which, during the last century, the dodo occupied in the world of animals.”
The reddleman belonged to a dying trade in Wessex, as obsolete as the dodo was in the animal kingdom a hundred years earlier.
Highlights the historical extinction of the reddleman profession.
“The scene was strangely homogeneous, in that the vale, the upland, the barrow, and the figure above it amounted only to unity.”
The landscape and the solitary figure on the barrow formed a single, seamless whole.
Emphasizes the unity of nature and human presence on Egdon.
“She's above mating with such as I. But there's no reason why I should tell you about that.”
She is too good for someone like me to marry, though I shouldn't be discussing it.
Reveals Venn's sense of social inferiority regarding Thomasin.
