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Chapter 16
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Buried Giant, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory, Truth and Justice
War, Peace, Vengeance, and Forgiveness
Love and Hatred
Denial and Rewriting History
Summary
Analysis
The narrator sees the old couple riding through the rain and wonders why they get off their horse so far from shelter. The narrator calls to them, inviting them into take shelter under the pines. The old man doesn’t hear at first, but soon he does and looks around until he notices the narrator. The old woman slides off the horse and the old man attempts to carry her, but the narrator runs out to help carry her to the trees, setting her down against the trunk while the old man comforts her.
Axl’s attempt to carry Beatrice indicates that she is, once again, growing too weak to walk. Axl, however, remains in good health. It also shows Axl’s continued love for Beatrice even though Querig is slain and they have presumably begun to remember their past together.
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The narrator listens as the old woman tells Axl that she remembers their son lives on an island and it is nearby. Axl wonders how that is possible, but Beatrice swears she can hear the sea nearby and says they forgot because of the mist but she knows their son is there. Axl thinks it’s just her fever, but the woman tells him to ask the narrator. The narrator wonders if he’s supposed to stay silent, but instead turns and tells Axl, “The good lady’s right, sir.” Axl looks alarmed, but the narrator goes on describing the close proximity of the island and explains that he can bring them over there in his boat once the rain clears. Axl asks if the narrator is a boatman, and he says that he is. Axl fearfully holds his wife closer.
The island represents the afterlife, so by saying their son is there, Beatrice is confirming that he is actually dead and that she is ready to go to him. Axl wants to convince her this is wrong because he wants her to stay with him, but Beatrice will no longer allow Axl to tell her what to think and which of her memories are real and which are not. Axl’s alarm at the narrator’s answer is due to his growing realization that Beatrice is about to go to the island and that he might not be going with her.
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Axl asks if there is shelter with a fire nearby to warm Beatrice. The narrator says he has one in the cove, but Axl says that they’d better stay under the tree and they don’t really have an interest in going to the island. Beatrice, shocked, asks what Axl means and insists on going to the cove. Axl agrees to bring her there but is reluctant to let the narrator carry her despite his own weakness. From the cove, the narrator points out the island, calls it “a gentle place,” and wonders if the couple is there “of their own will.”
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Beatrice calls to the narrator and asks if the island they see is the same she heard of in stories where a person can walk alone forever without running into another person. The narrator says that it may be, but he has no way of confirming. Beatrice asks if it’s true that couples can be taken there together so they are not separated, but the narrator gives her another evasive answer, saying it’s only his job to carry people who want to go across the water. Beatrice asks if the narrator could bring her and Axl there together so they won’t have to part, and the narrator assures her that they would be permitted to be together there. This excites Beatrice, who also hopes to occasionally run into their son.
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The narrator prepares to get the boat and give the couple time to decide what to do when Beatrice asks if they’ll be questioned. The narrator says he nearly forgot about that, but that they will be. Axl is sent away while the woman talks about her memories of Axl. After a while, the narrator says it’s time for him to talk to Axl. The narrator shares a memory that Beatrice had told him about her and Axl walking together with a basket of eggs. Axl smiles and says he remembers. The boatman says they should go get the boat ready and they start walking back.
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On the way, the narrator asks if there are any memories that cause “particular pain,” assuring Axl he is no longer being formally questioned. Axl shares the story of the abrupt departure of their son and says he shares the blame, having created a toxic home life after discovering his wife’s infidelity. Their son had vowed never to return and was gone even after the couple was “happily reunited.” When they got word that their son had died of plague, Axl says he “forbade her to go to his grave” because he still had “a craving to punish” even as he “spoke and acted forgiveness.” The narrator asks what has changed since then to make Axl love his wife again, and Axl explains that there was no one thing, but that he had gradually fallen back in love with her.
When they return to Beatrice, Axl wants to carry her to the boat but the narrator insists on doing it, which makes Axl suspicious. When they get to the boat, Axl gets in, but the narrator says he can only bring one person at a time because the water is choppy. He will return shortly for Axl. At first, Axl refuses to get out, but eventually his wife tells the narrator to give them a moment. She tells Axl that she trusts the boatman will return for him and asks him not to argue. Axl asks her if she thinks the only reason their love has grown so strong is because the mist had erased their pasts long enough for old wounds to heal, but she says that doesn’t matter now and encourages him to apologize so the narrator will return for him. Axl agrees to get out of the boat and the narrator hears him tell his wife goodbye. Axl walks past the narrator, who tells him to wait, and continues walking off into the distance.
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