Previous
Chapter 23
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Human Connection
Faith and Control
Memory, Grief, and Atonement
Nature vs. the Modern World
Journeys and Growth
Summary
Analysis
Since walking away from Maureen, Harold cannot picture his journey’s end. He calls her often from the road. Rich accuses Wilf of stealing again, and Harold worries he is right. Like David, the boy is unreliable and often drunk. Harold feels he has lost control of the walk. He no longer eats with the group but wanders near camp at night. While Harold is gone, Rich calls a meeting to voice concerns that Queenie might die soon and that Harold moves too slow. Kate forces Rich to drop the subject. The next morning, Wilf is gone along with several belongings, including Queenie’s souvenir paperweight. Wilf has set up a Facebook page, clearly intending to sell the story of his journey.
Harold feels conflicted for choosing his pilgrimage over returning home with Maureen, illustrating how personal journeys can come with unexpected costs. Though determined to make it to Queenie, Harold does not want to lose his connection with Maureen. The pilgrims’ petty conflicts emphasize their disunity and lack of understanding of Harold’s purpose. Wilf’s betrayal echoes David’s rejection of Harold and makes Harold feel he has failed as a father figure for a second time.
Active
Themes
Harold feels he let Wilf down. He tells Kate that Wilf reminded him of David, who was too clever and lonely for his own good. Wilf stole Kate’s wedding ring, but—as a recent divorcée—she is grateful. Harold thinks of David and his father’s shared alcoholism, finding it impossible to convey the depth of his pain to Kate. That night, Harold allows himself to feel the pain of being unwanted by either parent. He remembers asking his mother if he was ugly, believing that could explain her lack of physical affection. Joan had laughed. He wishes he had saved her letter or held David in his arms. Harold mourns the things in his life that cannot be undone.
Wilf’s similarities to David shame Harold, who feels he failed to guide both young men. Harold’s conversation with Kate highlights the near impossibility of achieving total understanding between two different people. On his own, then, Harold must process his childhood trauma and learn to accept his faults as a parent. Only when he allows himself to fully feel the emotional devastation of these experiences can he move past regret. Though this part of his journey is uncomfortable, then, it is necessary.
Active
Themes
Tensions arise when Harold proposes a detour to Hexham, where the businessman he met early in his journey lives. Rich calls another secret meeting, suggesting a splinter group heads straight to Berwick. Everyone but Kate sides with Rich and leaves Harold behind. Harold doesn’t mind, planning to walk to Hexham and then Berwick. Kate heads home, telling Harold to look after himself. When Harold reaches Hexham, the businessman is on holiday. A week later, Rich and the others arrive in Berwick to great media attention. They deliver gifts to the hospice, though Queenie doesn’t receive them. Watching the news, Maureen is furious at how the other pilgrims abandoned Harold. Rex remarks that “it’s just the walk and Harold” now.
Active
Themes
