The Wonderful Visit · Chapter
XXI: After Dinner (Continued) explained
The chapter recapitulates the story so far: the Angel's arrival, his transformation into a man, and the varied reactions of the villagers.
What happens
The chapter recapitulates the story so far: the Angel's arrival, his transformation into a man, and the varied reactions of the villagers. The Angel dreams of his heavenly home, while the Vicar lies awake troubled by Mrs. Mendham's potential gossip and a newfound sense of wonder. Other villagers, like Gully, Sandy Bright, Annie Durgan, and Lumpy Durgan, each react in their own way, and a ploughman gets a black eye from an argument about the Angel.
Themes in this chapter
Innocence vs. Experience
The Angel's dream of a perfect, painless world contrasts with the Vicar's troubled, worldly concerns, highlighting the clash between innocence and the burdens of experience.
Faith, Doubt, and the Supernatural
The Vicar's sense of 'something seen darkly' and his terror at the unfamiliar wonderland reflect a struggle between faith and doubt in the face of the supernatural.
Characters to notice
- The Angel
Dreams of his heavenly world, sleeping peacefully after being transformed into a man.
- The Vicar
Lies awake, troubled by Mrs. Mendham's potential gossip and a new sense of wonder about the world.
- Mrs. Mendham
Mentioned as a source of anxiety for the Vicar, her tongue 'hanging above him like the sword of Damocles.'
- Gully
Unloads his gun after a blank day of hunting.
- Lumpy Durgan
Sits up in bed, crooning a tune and listening for a sound he longs to hear again.
Key passages
“Swiftly, dexterously, as the reader must admit, wings have been clipped, halo handled off, the glory clapped into coat and trousers, and the Angel made for all practical purposes a man, under a suspicion of being either a lunatic or an impostor.”
The Angel has been quickly and skillfully stripped of his divine attributes and dressed as a man, now seen as either mad or a fraud.
Summarizes the Angel's transformation and the villagers' perception of him.
“But the Vicar lies awake, too perplexed for dreaming. Chiefly he is troubled by the possibilities of Mrs. Mendham; but the evening’s talk has opened strange vistas in his mind, and he is stimulated by a sense as of something seen darkly by the indistinct vision of a hitherto unsuspected wonderland lying about his world.”
The Vicar cannot sleep, worried about Mrs. Mendham's gossip but also intrigued by the new, mysterious possibilities the Angel's arrival has revealed.
Highlights the Vicar's internal conflict between mundane worries and spiritual wonder.