The Vicar of Bullhampton · Chapter
Carry Brattle’s Journey explained
Carry Brattle, unable to bear the confinement and the impending summons to appear before magistrates in her old neighborhood, escapes from Mrs.
What happens
Carry Brattle, unable to bear the confinement and the impending summons to appear before magistrates in her old neighborhood, escapes from Mrs. Stiggs's house. She walks aimlessly along the Devizes road, avoiding the railway station and the path to Bullhampton, with no plan but to evade capture. After a night at a village inn, she continues walking and eventually turns toward Bullhampton, arriving at the mill garden late at night, where her sister Fanny and mother are discussing her plight.
Themes in this chapter
Redemption and the Fallen Woman
Carry's flight and aimless wandering highlight the struggle for redemption and the unreasonable expectations placed on those trying to reform.
Family Duty and Forgiveness
Fanny and Mrs. Brattle's plan to help Carry, despite the miller's likely anger, underscores the tension between family duty and forgiveness.
Characters to notice
- Carry Brattle
Escapes from Trotter's Buildings to avoid appearing before magistrates; walks aimlessly toward Bullhampton, arriving at the mill garden late at night.
- Fanny Brattle
Plans to go to Salisbury to find Carry, despite her father's likely disapproval; hears Carry's voice in the garden at night.
- Mrs. Brattle
Discusses Carry with Fanny, agrees to support Fanny's journey, and plans to tell the miller that Fanny has gone to Salisbury.
- Mr. Fenwick
Mentioned as having placed Carry at Mrs. Stiggs's and as the one who told Fanny about the magistrates' hearing; he is feared and loved by Carry.
- George Brattle
The miller, father of Carry and Fanny; not directly present but discussed as likely to disapprove of Fanny's journey.
Key passages
“The straight-going people of the world, in dealing with those who go crooked, are almost always unreasonable.”
People who live upright lives often have unreasonable expectations of those who have strayed.
The narrator critiques the moral rigidity of society toward repentant sinners.
“It is the lack of object, of all aim, in the lives of the houseless wanderers that gives to them the most terrible element of their misery.”
The worst part of homelessness is having no purpose or goal in life.
Reflects on Carry's aimless journey as emblematic of deeper despair.