Far From the Madding Crowd: Chapter 46 Summary & Analysis

The tower of Weatherbury Church is from the 14th century and has two Gothic gargoyles on each of its faces. Though most of the mouths no longer spout water, they are all equally hideous. The horrible one on the north-eastern side does still have a passage for water, and as Troy sleeps on the church porch, the stream thickens and pours right over Fanny’s grave, drowning the carefully planted flowers and washing them away. Troy only awakens in broad daylight, when the sun is shining again. He reaches the grave and sees only a hollow around the tombstone.

Troy usually can elude grief simply by pushing off troublesome thoughts. For almost the first time in his life, now, he cannot, and he wishes he were another man: he hates himself. Miserable, he stands and wonders where he should go. He’s only been thoughtful for one full day—the source of wanting to care for Fanny’s grave—and now he feels fate is jeering at him. He withdraws without doing anything to fix the grave, and leaves the village at once.

Meanwhile Bathsheba remains in the attic with Liddy, and sleeps restlessly. At eight a.m. Liddy knocks and says she heard one strange noise in the night, apart from the heavy rain, like the boiling of a pot. Bathsheba asks if Troy has been in; she says she thinks he’s gone to Budmouth, the horse-race site: Laban Tall saw him on that road before breakfast.

After breakfast Bathsheba leaves to walk towards church. Across the churchyard she sees Gabriel, who is looking at the tomb and disturbed grave. She follows his eyes and reads, “Erected by Francis Troy in memory of Fanny Robbin.” Gabriel sees her, and Bathsheba’s earlier emotion cedes to calm. She asks him simply to fill the hole, as she begins planting the flowers scattered around. She asks Gabriel to get the church wardens to turn the gargoyle’s mouth, and finally wipes the mud from the tomb, then goes home.