The Return of the Native · Chapter
VIII: Those Who Are Found Where There Is Said to Be Nobody explained
Johnny Nunsuch, a small boy, runs home from Eustacia Vye's bonfire but is frightened by a light and dust in a gravel pit.
What happens
Johnny Nunsuch, a small boy, runs home from Eustacia Vye's bonfire but is frightened by a light and dust in a gravel pit. He returns to the bonfire, where he sees Eustacia with a man (Wildeve) and decides not to interrupt. He then goes back to the pit, discovers it is the reddleman Diggory Venn's van, and after a fall, Venn tends to his wound. Through questioning, Venn learns that Eustacia and Wildeve have been meeting secretly on Rainbarrow, confirming his suspicions about their relationship.
Themes in this chapter
Isolation and Loneliness
The lonely setting of Mistover Knap and the solitary figures of Eustacia and the reddleman emphasize the isolation of characters on the heath.
Love and Marriage
Eustacia and Wildeve's secret meeting reveals unresolved romantic tensions and the theme of forbidden or complicated love.
Characters to notice
- Johnny Nunsuch
A frightened boy who runs errands for Eustacia and accidentally reveals her secret meeting with Wildeve to the reddleman.
- Eustacia Vye
Seen by Johnny on the barrow with a gentleman (Wildeve), discussing their relationship and future meetings.
- Damon Wildeve
The gentleman meeting Eustacia on the barrow; he admits he likes her best and plans to see her again under Rainbarrow.
- Diggory Venn
The reddleman living in a van in the gravel pit; he questions Johnny and learns of Eustacia and Wildeve's clandestine meetings.
Key passages
“As soon as the sad little boy had withdrawn from the fire he clasped the money tight in the palm of his hand, as if thereby to fortify his courage, and began to run.”
The unhappy boy gripped the coin tightly to boost his bravery and started running as soon as he left the fire.
Shows Johnny's fear and reliance on the sixpence for courage.
“The picture alarmed the boy. By a little stove inside the van sat a figure red from head to heels—the man who had been Thomasin’s friend.”
The boy was frightened by the sight of a man entirely red, sitting by a stove in the van—the same man who had been with Thomasin.
Reveals the reddleman's identity and Johnny's fear.
“Told him she supposed he had not married the other woman because he liked his old sweetheart best; and things like that.”
Eustacia suggested to Wildeve that he hadn't married Thomasin because he still preferred his former lover.
Highlights the romantic triangle and Eustacia's manipulative conversation.