# The Night of the Sixth of November explained — The Return of the Native

> Chapter companion for The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy.

## What happens

Eustacia, resolved on flight, signals Wildeve with a furze fire and prepares to leave at midnight. Captain Vye receives a letter for her but does not deliver it. Eustacia departs into the stormy night. Meanwhile, Susan Nunsuch, believing Eustacia to be an evil influence, creates a wax effigy of her and melts it in a superstitious ritual.

## Themes in this chapter

### Isolation and Loneliness

Eustacia feels isolated and out of place, seeing the heath as uncongenial and the whole world as hostile.

### Fate and Destiny

Eustacia's flight and Susan's superstitious ritual reflect a struggle against forces beyond control.

### Suffering and Sacrifice

Eustacia laments her suffering and blames the cruelty of the world; Susan's ritual is an act of perceived sacrifice to protect her child.

## Character check-ins

### Eustacia Vye

Resolved on flight, she signals Wildeve and prepares to leave; departs into the stormy night.

### Captain Vye

Receives a letter for Eustacia but does not deliver it; later discovers she has left.

### Damon Wildeve

Responds to Eustacia's signal with a light of his own, as prearranged.

### Susan Nunsuch

Creates a wax effigy of Eustacia and melts it in a superstitious ritual to counteract her perceived evil influence.

### Timothy Fairway

Delivers a letter from Clym to Captain Vye's house.

## Key lines

> Having resolved on flight Eustacia at times seemed anxious that something should happen to thwart her own intention.

After deciding to run away, Eustacia occasionally hoped that something would stop her.

_Shows her inner conflict about leaving._

> She was gratified, if gratification were possible to such a mood, by seeing a similar light in the vicinity of Wildeve’s residence a minute or two later.

Despite her bleak mood, she felt a small satisfaction when she saw Wildeve's answering signal.

_Highlights her reliance on Wildeve's promise._

> The gloom of the night was funereal; all nature seemed clothed in crape.

The night was dark and mournful, as if nature itself were in mourning.

_Reflects the somber atmosphere as Eustacia leaves._

> O, the cruelty of putting me into this ill-conceived world! I was capable of much; but I have been injured and blighted and crushed by things beyond my control!

Eustacia laments being born into a harsh world, feeling that her potential has been destroyed by forces she cannot influence.

_Expresses her despair and sense of victimhood._

> To counteract the malign spell which she imagined poor Eustacia to be working, the boy’s mother busied herself with a ghastly invention of superstition...

Susan Nunsuch, believing Eustacia was casting an evil spell, engaged in a superstitious ritual to counter it.

_Introduces the folk magic practice of making a wax effigy._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_the_native_se/chapters/vii-the-night-of-the-sixth-of-november
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_the_native_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_the_native_se/chapters