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Visitation: Chapter 37
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in NW, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Identity and Social Mobility
Geography and Human Connection
Sex and Relationships
Altruism
Summary
Analysis
Back in the present day, Pauline comes to see Leah. Almost a month later, Leah still thinks about Shar. Pauline and Leah pass a Hindu temple, then hop on a bus to the Kilburn tube station. Near the station, they see a man selling a travel card, and Pauline haggles with him to buy it. The man recognizes her, and Pauline is surprised to see it’s Nathan. Pauline knows his family, and Nathan used to be one of the most handsome boys at Leah’s school. Now, his clothes are all ragged, and his afro has some gray in it.
Similar to Shar, Nathan is another person whose life started out similar to Leah’s but went off on a different direction. The early promise that Nathan showed in life compared to his shabby current state again raises the question of whether he made bad decisions or whether his life has been shaped by external circumstances.
Themes
Pauline and Leah go to find the train, talking about how bad Nathan looked and how Pauline should visit his mother sometime. On the train, Pauline reads an article about a big volcanic ash event, then joins a conversation with another group talking about the same article.
The volcanic ash event, a freak natural occurrence that has wide-ranging effects, hints at the idea that human lives are affected by things outside their control.
Themes
