Sons and Lovers: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

When Arthur Morel leaves school, he gets a job at the “electrical plant” at one of the mines. Arthur is a boisterous, energetic young man who is always getting into scrapes. Mrs. Morel finds him tiring and worrisome. One day, a letter arrives from Arthur which tells his mother that he has joined the army on a whim and now regrets his decision. The letter asks Mrs. Morel if she will come to Derby and speak to his commanding officer to see if she can have him unenrolled.

Paul is vaguely amused and thinks that this is not so bad for Arthur; it will teach him discipline. Mrs. Morel, however, is furious; Arthur has lost a good job, just as he was starting to “get on” in the world. She complains that being a soldier is a “common” profession and tells Mr. Morel that she must go to Derby immediately. Mr. Morel is ashamed of his son and says that he may never come home again. Mrs. Morel hushes her husband and sets off that evening.

When Mrs. Morel returns home, she tells Paul that she cannot help Arthur out of the army but, although he is sad to be there, the army doctor told her that Arthur is perfectly suited to life as a soldier. That Autumn, Paul wins two prizes for his paintings in a Nottingham exhibition. Mrs. Morel is immensely proud of him and feels that her hopes for her children and herself will be fulfilled through Paul. Her life of hardship will not have been lived in vain.

One day, when he is walking up to the exhibition, Paul runs into Miriam and a friend of hers, Clara Dawes. Miriam introduces them and Paul thinks Clara is attractive despite her shabby dress and her sullen, slightly contemptuous manner. Paul knows something of Clara because she used to work at Jordan’s. Her husband, Baxter Dawes, also works there, but he and Clara are separated, and Paul knows that she dislikes men. Miriam likes to spend time with Clara; it lets her feel close to Paul because of this connection with the factory.

Paul dislikes Baxter Dawes. He met him on his first day at Jordan’s and found him coarse and unpleasant. Baxter tried to threaten Paul when he saw him staring, but Mr. Pappleworth defended him. Ever since then, Dawes has hated Paul and Paul equally despises him. Clara has left Baxter and gone to live with her mother. Meanwhile Baxter is now seeing one of the factory girls at Jordan.

When Paul goes to see Miriam next, he asks her about Clara. He wonders why Clara married Baxter Dawes if she was only going to leave him, but Miriam replies sarcastically. Paul suggests that Miriam does not like Clara, or that she likes her because Clara hates men, and Miriam seems sad and confused. Paul has been irritable lately and she hates to see the scowl on his face. It seems to imply a distance between them.

Paul tries to playfully put berries in her hair, but Miriam pulls away. Paul complains that she never laughs at him and that, even when she laughs, he feels somber and tearful when he is with her. Miriam miserably thinks that this is not her fault. Paul, however, feels bitter because he always needs to be “spiritual” with Miriam. He longs to kiss her but cannot kiss her in a pure way and he resents that she does not appreciate his “maleness.”

When Paul makes to leave the farm that evening, he notices that his bike has a puncture and Miriam watches him fix it. While he works and while his back is turned, she yearns to embrace him. When he is finished, she reaches out and holds his sides, but Paul feels that she is not really seeing him and that he might be “an object.” The brakes on his bike are broken and Miriam tries to persuade him to ride home slowly. Paul rides home deliberately fast and thinks that, if Miriam will not “value” him, then he may “destroy himself” as “revenge.”

For a while, before their father rents a family pew, Miriam and Edgar attend church with Paul and Mrs. Morel and sit in their pew during the service. Mrs. Morel is silently resentful of Miriam because she feels that the girl wants to claim Paul’s soul. Mrs. Morel frets that Miriam will not leave any part of Paul for her and that she will keep him all to herself. As the spring approaches, however, Miriam worries that Paul will hurt her because he spends a lot of time with Edgar. The two boys debate endlessly about religion and seem to trample on Miriam’s dearly held beliefs.

Paul still goes out for his evening walks with Miriam, but his mood is ruined because he knows his mother hates the girl and that she sits at home and is miserable without him. This, in turn, makes Paul feel like he hates Miriam, but then he feels guilty for this because he does not know why Mrs. Morel rejects her; he feels torn between them both. Spring affects his mood wildly, and he is often cruel and changeable with Miriam, although he still feels irresistibly drawn to her.

One night, when Miriam and Paul are talking, he tells her that he feels “disembodied” with her, as though she wants his soul and his body is “discarded.” Miriam grows upset, but Paul complains that he wants to be “normal,” whereas Miriam does not. He feels she only wants the things he can tell and teach her, and not him. When Miriam is invited to a party at the Morels’ house, Paul tells her that he will not walk out to meet her because his family are jealous of their relationship. Although Miriam is hurt, she pities and resents Paul because, she thinks, he cannot think for himself.

At work, Paul is successful and well liked; he is promoted when Mr. Pappleworth leaves. Annie has moved back home and is engaged. On Friday nights, the miners divide up the earnings for the week at Mr. Morel’s house. Paul watches his father wash as he gets ready for this and thinks that his father must have been a strong handsome man once.

The miners divide up their money and Mr. Morel slinks out with them when they are finished. Mrs. Morel takes the housekeeping money, which Mr. Morel has left on the table and, grumbling that it is less than she expects, heads out to the market. Paul is left in charge of the bread she has put in the oven to bake. While his mother is out Miriam arrives. Paul shows her a cloth that he has decorated with his own design; it is part of his new interest in “conventionalizing things.” Miriam is impressed but thinks the cloth feels “cruel” in some way, and Paul tells her he plans to sell it and give the money to his mother.

While they are talking, a young woman called Beatrice arrives. She is a friend of the family and is very familiar with Paul. She teases him and makes snide comments to Miriam about the state of her shoes, which are covered in mud. While she and Paul smoke and giggle together, the bread burns in the oven. Beatrice manages to salvage some of it and, half joking, insinuates that Mrs. Morel will blame Miriam if the loaves are ruined. Annie arrives home with her fiancé Leonard, who is kind to Miriam and does not join in with the others when they tease her.

Annie, Leonard, and Beatrice leave together, and Paul gives Miriam a French lesson. Every week, Miriam writes a journal entry in French and shows it to Paul. These entries are all about her love for him and Paul pointedly ignores this as he corrects her grammar and spelling. He resents her love for him, because he feels she is better than him. He is glad that he teased her with Beatrice. He looks into her eyes and sees her “naked love” for him and immediately jumps up to check the bread in the oven.

Paul walks Miriam home and does not get home until after eleven. His mother sits silently in the living room and Paul ignores her and assumes she is angry with him. Annie, however, tells Paul that his mother is ill. Annie found Mrs. Morel sitting in her chair, very pale and exhausted, after carrying home the shopping. Annie accuses Paul of being careless and staying out too late with Miriam. Mrs. Morel then joins in and laments that Paul only cares about Miriam and cares nothing for anybody else. Annie goes to bed, still very angry with Paul.

Paul sits up with his mother and it is very tense in the room. He is worried about her because she is ill and angry with her for turning on Miriam. Mrs. Morel grows upset and tells Paul that it is not sensible to walk so far at night; she worries he will tire himself out for Miriam’s sake. Paul assures his mother that he does not love Miriam, but Mrs. Morel is not convinced. Paul insists that there are things he can talk to Miriam about that do not interest Mrs. Morel because she is older than them, but Mrs. Morel is deeply hurt by this.

Paul pleads with her to believe him and moves over to her chair to kiss and caress her. Mr. Morel comes in at that moment and is enraged by the sight of the mother and son. He helps himself to a pie Mrs. Morel has bought for Paul and she fires up against him. In a drunken fury, Mr. Morel tries to fight, Paul but dodges away before he hits the boy. Mrs. Morel falls into a swoon and Paul cries out to his father to stop the fight.

Mr. Morel falls into a chair and Paul kneels beside Mrs. Morel and brings her back to herself. She wakes up gradually but is faint and unwell. Mr. Morel watches sullenly as Paul begs his mother not to be ill. Finally, he slinks off to bed. Paul sits up with Mrs. Morel until she has recovered. When they go to bed, Paul tries to persuade his mother to sleep in his bed rather than with his father, but Mrs. Morel refuses. Paul is comforted by the fact that he still loves his mother more than anyone else.