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Chapter 24
Themes
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
Harold is relieved to be alone. He and the dog walk without arguing, and Harold returns to memories of Maureen, David, and Queenie. He avoids towns during the day, not wanting any more public attention. One cold night, Harold thinks of all the times David risked his bodily safety and shivers violently. For the first time, the land does not meet his need for comfort and warmth. The world seems suddenly indifferent, and Harold spirals into thoughts about the insignificance of his actions. He begins to think that his walk to Queenie makes no difference. Despite the many people he has met and places he has visited, Harold feels “he had passed through life and left no impression.”
That Harold’s memories return when he is alone again suggests that introspective self-work is best done in solitude. His intentional avoidance of people and crowds indicates he is aware of this and is drawing inward as he nears his journey’s end. Despite how close he is, Harold experiences a crisis of faith, primarily because he perceives the natural world as indifferent to his struggle. Stripped of the human approval he is used to and receiving no validation from the land, Harold scrambles to maintain self-belief. Because of this, Harold is finally forced to confront the smallness of his own existence and must decide for himself whether his actions are worthwhile.
Themes
Harold realizes the dog is missing. He retraces his steps and sees the animal boarding a bus with a young girl. Losing his last companion leaves Harold bereft. His weariness takes a toll: he walks in the wrong direction often and cannot remember David’s face. Feeling he is walking without progressing, Harold loses hope. He calls Maureen and tells her he can’t finish the journey. He doesn’t know where he is and wants to come home. Maureen asks Harold to call her back while she figures out his location. She and Rex guess that Harold is near Wooler and book him a hotel. Maureen will not come get him, insisting Queenie is waiting and he only has 16 miles to go.
The dog’s abandonment amplifies Harold’s sense of solitude, this time in a negative way. His faith in the pilgrimage crumbles completely now that he seems to have lost all his in-person support. It is significant that he calls Maureen when all hope is lost, showing that he still trusts in their admittedly strained connection. While Maureen does not give Harold the exact support he is looking for (perhaps because she knows only he can determine whether his long walk has been worthwhile), she does urge him onward to complete what he has started. This offers hope for their relationship.
Themes
Harold obeys Maureen and checks into the hotel. Realizing he has left Martina’s partner’s compass in the phonebooth, he rushes back out but cannot find it. Losing the compass breaks something in Harold, who is overcome by memories of all the people he has met, who are all searching for happiness. He cries all the next day as he walks. In Kingsbridge, Maureen receives more postcards from Harold, his messages brief or missing entirely. He is moving erratically, often in the wrong direction. She considers calling the police, but he is so close to Berwick. Maureen rarely sleeps, keeping vigil for Harold and wishing he’d come home.
Losing Martina’s partner’s compass emphasizes Harold’s literal and figurative sense of being directionless. Here, the novel highlights the importance of maintaining a sense of purpose while engaging in journeys of personal growth, so that progress (however incremental) can continue. Additionally, Harold is overwhelmed by the collective pain of humanity, which he has witnessed on his pilgrimage. The blank postcards Harold sends Maureen show that he is struggling to maintain the barest human connection, worn down by the emotional and physical toll of his walk.
Themes
