The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

It was Napier who asked Harold to drive Queenie to various pubs to check their account books. Though Harold agreed, he worried the drives with Queenie might be awkward. Napier made derisive comments about David’s acceptance to Cambridge and told Harold to keep an eye on Queenie, calling her a “bitch.” Harold imagined breaking Napier’s collection of glass clowns, heirlooms which belonged to his mother. The first drive with Queenie was quiet. Harold noted the thickness of her ankles. The landlord of the pub they visited claimed nothing got past Queenie, making Harold proud of her. Afterward, Queenie thanked Harold for his kindness in the supply closet, calling him a gentleman. Harold resolved to look out for her. 

On Harold’s twelfth day of walking, rain comes down in torrents. Harold is constantly soaked, and his injured leg is turning red. He calls Maureen, hoping she will somehow revive his sense of purpose, even if she is angry. Maureen claims she is so busy, she hardly notices Harold’s absence, which pains him. The next day, he walks, thinking of the rift between him and Maureen. At 18, David began wandering the streets at night, making Harold worry. Marital tensions between Harold and Maureen finally exploded just before Queenie left the brewery, when Maureen blamed Harold for some calamity. Though she later apologized, Harold has never forgotten her words and the distance between them has only grown since.

Harold is so lost in memories and rain that he walks two miles in the wrong direction, forcing him to backtrack. He stops at a farmhouse whose owner warns him that a group of cyclist mothers have rented out the other rooms. Harold dreams of the “aunts” who replaced his mother. In the morning, Harold’s leg and ankle are swollen. He pictures his father in the nursing home, unable to recognize him. During breakfast, he encounters the cyclists. One woman describes her life as a single mother, able to sleep with whomever she wants. Harold has only ever slept with Maureen. He congratulates the cycling mother, who claims she is “free as a bird.” Harold notices scars on her wrist.

On the road again, Harold can only walk for 15 minutes before needing to rest his leg. He comes upon a roadside memorial with a football shirt hanging on a wooden cross. There is a photo and a note that reads “To the best dad in the world.” Feeling he is the worst dad, Harold remembers David cursing at him. The cycling mother’s attempted suicide weighs on Harold, and he wishes he could have helped her. Reaching a residential area in Taunton, one of Harold’s most repressed memories surfaces—a sunny day with an ominous silence. Walking faster to outrun the memory, Harold collapses, his calf exploding with pain. He begs forgiveness as some stranger arrives to help.