The Door in the Wall
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Themes
All Themes Reality, Fantasy, Dreams, and Visions Ambition and Material Success vs Contentment and Joy The Lost Golden Past
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Lionel Wallace Redmond Wallace’s Father
Symbols
All Symbols The Door in the Wall The Garden
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The Door in the Wall

by

H. G. Wells
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Wallace’s Father Character Analysis

A stern, remote, and career-focused lawyer, Wallace’s father expected great things of Wallace from a young age. When Wallace was five years old, he found the door in the wall and told his father about his experience, but Wallace’s father thrashed him for telling lies. Wallace describes his father, who punishes him for his imaginative nature, as “old school.” In later years, Wallace pursues a prestigious education and career path, as his father wanted for him, and receives his father’s rare praise. At the end of his father’s life, Wallace encounters the door, but chooses to be at his deathbed rather than take the opportunity to enter the garden.

Wallace’s Father Quotes in The Door in the Wall

The The Door in the Wall quotes below are all either spoken by Wallace’s Father or refer to Wallace’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Reality, Fantasy, Dreams, and Visions Theme Icon
).
Part 1 Quotes

Poor little wretch I was!—brought back to this grey world again! As I realised the fulness of what had happened to me, I gave way to quite ungovernable grief. And the shame and humiliation of that public weeping and my disgraceful home-coming remain with me still.

Related Characters: Lionel Wallace (speaker), Redmond, Wallace’s Father
Related Symbols: The Garden
Reality, Fantasy, Dreams, and Visions Theme Icon
The Lost Golden Past Theme Icon
Page Number: 289
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3 Quotes

‘If 1 had stopped,’ I thought, ‘I should have missed my scholarship, I should have missed Oxford— muddled all the fine career before me! I begin to see things better!’ I fell musing deeply, but I did not doubt then this career of mine was a thing that merited sacrifice.

Related Characters: Lionel Wallace (speaker), Wallace’s Father
Related Symbols: The Door in the Wall, The Garden
Ambition and Material Success vs Contentment and Joy Theme Icon
The Lost Golden Past Theme Icon
Page Number: 294
Explanation and Analysis:
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Wallace’s Father Quotes in The Door in the Wall

The The Door in the Wall quotes below are all either spoken by Wallace’s Father or refer to Wallace’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Reality, Fantasy, Dreams, and Visions Theme Icon
).
Part 1 Quotes

Poor little wretch I was!—brought back to this grey world again! As I realised the fulness of what had happened to me, I gave way to quite ungovernable grief. And the shame and humiliation of that public weeping and my disgraceful home-coming remain with me still.

Related Characters: Lionel Wallace (speaker), Redmond, Wallace’s Father
Related Symbols: The Garden
Reality, Fantasy, Dreams, and Visions Theme Icon
The Lost Golden Past Theme Icon
Page Number: 289
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3 Quotes

‘If 1 had stopped,’ I thought, ‘I should have missed my scholarship, I should have missed Oxford— muddled all the fine career before me! I begin to see things better!’ I fell musing deeply, but I did not doubt then this career of mine was a thing that merited sacrifice.

Related Characters: Lionel Wallace (speaker), Wallace’s Father
Related Symbols: The Door in the Wall, The Garden
Ambition and Material Success vs Contentment and Joy Theme Icon
The Lost Golden Past Theme Icon
Page Number: 294
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock with LitCharts A+
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