The Wonderful Visit · Chapter
Morning explained
The Vicar finds the Angel dressed and gazing out the window at a ploughman.
What happens
The Vicar finds the Angel dressed and gazing out the window at a ploughman. The Angel questions the necessity and fairness of labor, and the Vicar attempts to explain the social system and division of labor over breakfast.
Themes in this chapter
Class Division and Exploitation
The Angel's innocent questions expose the inherent inequality in the social system where one man ploughs while another eats breakfast.
Innocence vs. Experience
The Angel's naive perspective contrasts with the Vicar's acceptance of social norms, highlighting the clash between innocence and worldly experience.
Characters to notice
Key passages
““Why does he go to and fro like that? Does it amuse him?” “He’s ploughing. That’s his work.” “Work! Why does he do it? It seems a monotonous thing to do.””
The Angel asks why the ploughman walks back and forth, and the Vicar explains it is his work. The Angel finds the task monotonous and questions its purpose.
The Angel's curiosity about labor highlights his unfamiliarity with human work.
““And that lean, bent old man trudges after that heavy blade of iron pulled by a couple of horses while we go down to eat?” “Yes. You will find it is perfectly just. Ah! mushrooms and poached eggs! It’s the social system.””
The Angel contrasts the ploughman's toil with their own breakfast, and the Vicar reassures him that the social system is just.
The Vicar's casual dismissal of inequality underscores the theme of class division.