Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Return of the Native, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humans vs. Nature
Modernity vs. Tradition
Class and Morality
Deception
Summary
Analysis
Eustacia decides once and for all that she is leaving Egdon Heath. Before signaling to Wildeve that she is ready to depart, Eustacia takes a walk around the heath. While on her walk, Susan spots her. Susan is angry at Eustacia because her son Johnny is ill and thinks that it is all Eustacia’s fault. Susan creates an effigy of Eustacia and then shoves needles through it before burning it in the fire.
Superstition is common among the residents of Egdon Heath, and Susan is the most superstitious of all. The effigy Susan creates and burns suggests that she still believes Eustacia is a witch.
Themes
After Eustacia returns from her walk, she starts a bonfire to let Wildeve know that she is on her way. Before she departs, Clym’s letter arrives. She doesn’t see it, though, because Captain Vye accepted it and assumed his granddaughter was asleep. Eustacia starts to make her way to Wildeve’s but begins to have second thoughts. She doesn’t know if she can count on Wildeve, and the weather is starting to get bad. In misery, she cries out, “How I have tried and tried to be a splendid woman, and how destiny has been against me! . . . I do not deserve my lot!” Nonetheless, she continues to make her way to Wildeve’s.
Clym’s missed letter is yet another instance of failed communication in the novel. Additionally, the rapidly changing weather is an ominous sign. As Eustacia suggests here, it seems that her dreams of Paris simply are not meant to be, though she continues to chase them anyway.
Themes
Literary Devices
