Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Childhood vs. Adulthood
Memory, Perception, and Reality
Knowledge and Identity
Fear, Bravery, and Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Mrs. Hempstock and Old Mrs. Hempstock fly into action as soon as the narrator enters the kitchen. They haul a tin bath in and fill it with warm water. The narrator is horrified about being naked in front of new people, but he strips and climbs in. The Hempstocks don’t seem to care that the narrator is naked. Old Mrs. Hempstock gives the narrator a mug of soup to warm him up and then some soap. She sits in a rocker as the narrator scrubs himself. Lettie returns with a huge white garment, and when the narrator realizes it’s a nightgown like he’s seen in book illustrations, he puts it on. Then, they have dinner—the best meal he’s ever tasted.
The narrator feels far more excited about wearing this garment when he realizes that he’s seen pictures of them in books. This again speaks to how the narrator uses books to help him figure out how his world works and how things used to be. The fact that the Hempstocks only have this old-fashioned, traditionally feminine article of clothing to offer the narrator reinforces that they’re not normal people, per se. They’re capable of magic and see the world in a very different way than the narrator does.
Themes
The narrator asks if there are any Hempstock men, but Old Mrs. Hempstock just laughs. Lettie and Mrs. Hempstock explain that men come sometimes, but the male Hempstocks all left to seek their fortunes. Suddenly, Old Mrs. Hempstock exclaims that the narrator’s parents are on their way. Ursula isn’t with them, but the narrator is convinced that they’ll take him back and that his father will kill him. Mrs. Hempstock assures him that this won’t happen, but the narrator doesn’t believe her. The women discuss whether to manipulate time or to transform the narrator into something else, but Lettie suggests they “snip and cut.” Old Mrs. Hempstock talks through what the process would be as Ginnie returns with the narrator’s dressing gown. She lays out scissors, a needle, and red thread.
To the narrator, it’s unthinkable that women can exist without men. He’s been raised in a family with two heterosexual parents and has likely seen that his friends live in similar families, so Old Mrs. Hempstock’s reaction reads as very weird to him. Though he’s trying to understand how their lives work, it’s difficult when he’s in such unchartered territory. The same happens when they talk about “snip and cut” without explaining what they’re doing. The Hempstocks clearly have access to magical power of some sort, which the narrator recognizes—but given that he’s so young, he has no interest in learning exactly how it works.
Themes
Old Mrs. Hempstock examines the dressing gown and says it’d be best if the narrator’s father weren’t upset with him; then, he’d be happy for the narrator to stay the night. She begins to cut as Ginnie rises to answer the door. Lettie assures the narrator he’ll be fine. The narrator’s mother and father enter the kitchen and suddenly stop as an irregular scrap of fabric falls from the dressing gown. Ginnie points to the fabric scraps and says they’re the narrator, his father, and the bathtub—his father won’t be angry without the bathtub incident. Old Mrs. Hempstock begins to sew, and Lettie asks the narrator about his toothbrush. The narrator describes it, and as Old Mrs. Hempstock snips her thread, Ginnie and the narrator’s parents start talking as though they’ve been talking for a while.
Though Old Mrs. Hempstock has seemingly cut out the bathtub incident from the narrator’s father’s memory, it’s significant that the narrator still remembers. This makes it even clearer that no two people will remember an event the same way. Indeed, while “snip and cut” doesn’t exist in the real world, it’s nevertheless true that some people will forget that something ever happened—and that event will still be extremely meaningful to a person who does remember. Not knowing how this worked means that the narrator is still a bit afraid and unwilling to trust what happened.
Themes
The narrator’s father looks confused, but he holds out the narrator’s toothbrush. The narrator’s mother fusses over him and greets Lettie, and Ginnie promises to bring the narrator back in the morning. She sends the narrator’s parents away with scones. When they’re gone, Old Mrs. Hempstock holds up the dressing gown: it looks untouched. She gives the narrator a scrap and says that it’s the entirety of his evening. She suggests he burn it. The narrator picks it up and asks if it will have happened if he burns it. Ginnie looks concerned and asks what the narrator wants, and the narrator replies that he wants to remember and tosses the scrap in the fire.
Here, Old Mrs. Hempstock seems to imply that if the narrator wanted to, he could forget everything that happened this evening—but he makes a choice to remember. This shows that people can make conscious choices to shape what they remember. If someone focuses on remembering something, it’s possible to do so. Getting the choice also gives the narrator agency over his evening that he didn’t experience before—so in this regard, remembering feels a bit like growing up and playing at being an adult.
Themes
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Suddenly, the narrator feels like he’s underwater and knows his father is going to kill him. He screams. Then, he’s on the floor of the kitchen and his foot feels like it’s on fire. Ginnie inspects his foot, and the narrator tells her that Ursula came here in his foot. He apologizes to Lettie for letting go of her hand. Old Mrs. Hempstock inspects the hole and says that this is the door to Ursula’s home; she wants to keep the narrator around so that she can use the hole again. Old Mrs. Hempstock asks the narrator to be brave and grabs her needle like she’s going to stab something. She stabs the narrator’s foot, but it doesn’t hurt—she stabs into the hole. She slowly draws out the tunnel, and the narrator feels his terror leave him—but the tunnel doesn’t want to come out all the way.
When the narrator has this reaction to burning the memory of his evening, it suggests that there’s some connection between the narrator and Ursula that keeps him from forgetting. In particular, it’s telling that the narrator finds himself immersed in the memory of his father drowning him. This suggests that what gives Ursula her power is keeping the narrator afraid and alone. This is why the narrator’s terror seems to leave him as Old Mrs. Hempstock pulls the tunnel out—having someone trustworthy to help him at least partially robs Ursula of her power to terrorize him.
Themes
The narrator feels coldness in his heart, but then Old Mrs. Hempstock flicks her wrist and pulls the rest of the tunnel out. She cackles and says that this wasn’t very clever as Ginnie pulls out a jam jar. Lettie, fascinated, inspects the hole that’s now captured in the jar. The narrator apologizes for letting go of her hand, but Lettie insists that they’ll just do better next time. Old Mrs. Hempstock insists they have more work to do—she insists that “fleas attract varmints”—but Ginnie firmly says it’s time for the narrator to go to bed. The narrator grabs the kitten and a candlestick, and Lettie leads him into a hallway. The narrator notices that there’s a full moon and it’s not raining—yesterday, there was a crescent moon, and it should still be raining outside. Lettie says simply that Old Mrs. Hempstock likes it like that.
The narrator desperately wants to make Lettie feel like he’s still a worthy friend who can do as he’s told. He wants to be able to accompany her next time, so he needs to act as mature as he can. Lettie, however, behaves as though this isn’t really a big deal. This speaks to Lettie’s deeper understanding of what’s going on. To her, Ursula isn’t as frightening as she is for the narrator; she’s just a flea, and Lettie has dealt with fleas before. Because of her perspective, none of this is quite as scary as it is to the narrator.
Themes
Lettie shows the narrator his room, points to clothes for the morning, and says she’ll be right next door. The narrator crawls into bed, and the kitten settles on his pillow. He knows that there’s a monster in his house, and he thinks of all the other things that may or may not have happened this evening.
Even if the narrator remembers the bathtub incident, he’s not sure if it even happened. This again speaks to how unreliable memory can be—for all the narrator knows, he might just be imagining things.
Themes
