The Return of the Native · Chapter
IX: Sights and Sounds Draw the Wanderers Together explained
Wildeve prepares to flee with Eustacia, but Clym intercepts the plan.
What happens
Wildeve prepares to flee with Eustacia, but Clym intercepts the plan. A tragic drowning at Shadwater Weir leaves Eustacia and Wildeve dead, while Clym survives. Thomasin is devastated, and Diggory Venn reflects on the catastrophe.
Themes in this chapter
Fate and Destiny
The tragic drowning and the characters' intertwined fates underscore the inescapable destiny that befalls Eustacia, Wildeve, and Clym.
Suffering and Sacrifice
Clym's guilt and grief, Thomasin's widowhood, and the deaths of Eustacia and Wildeve highlight the suffering and sacrifice central to the chapter.
Characters to notice
- Damon Wildeve
Prepares to flee with Eustacia, takes money from the chest, and waits with a horse and gig. Dies in the drowning at Shadwater Weir.
- Eustacia Vye
Planned to flee with Wildeve; dies in the drowning at Shadwater Weir.
- Clym Yeobright
Intercepts Wildeve's vehicle, struggles in the weir, survives the drowning, and expresses deep guilt over the deaths.
- Thomasin Yeobright
Becomes a widow after Wildeve's death; attempts to revive the victims and is described as distracted and horrified.
- Diggory Venn
Hauls the bodies from the weir, assists in recovery efforts, and reflects on the tragedy at the inn.
- Olly Dowden
Present at the inn after the drowning, bustling about and speaking with Venn.
Key passages
“She is the second woman I have killed this year. I was a great cause of my mother's death, and I am the chief cause of hers.”
Clym blames himself for the deaths of both his mother and Eustacia.
Clym expresses his guilt after Eustacia's drowning.
“Those who ought to have lived lie dead; and here am I alive!”
Clym feels that he should have died instead of the others.
Clym's despair over surviving the tragedy.