Sons and Lovers: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

While Paul is in Sheffield with Mrs. Morel, he hears that Baxter Dawes is in a hospital nearby. The doctor tells him that Baxter has no visitors and, though he is no longer ill, he seems very depressed. Paul says he will go and see him and travels to the hospital. He feels somehow connected to Baxter, especially since their fight, as though they have a close, unconscious bond.

Baxter is sulky when Paul arrives, but he gradually softens up as the pair discuss Mrs. Morel’s illness. Baxter has had typhoid but is almost fully recovered. He does not want to go back to work because he doesn’t know anybody and is miserable with the world. Paul tells him that he will get Leonard to pop in and give him some newspapers and tries to cheer Baxter up a bit.

Paul rarely sees Clara now and the next time he does, he tells her about Baxter. Clara is frightened when she hears that Baxter is ill and condemns herself for not being kind to him. She says that Paul is right and that she treated Baxter badly. She goes to visit him soon after this and, although they are not friendly towards each other, she gives Baxter some money and flowers and wishes, in some sacrificial way, to make amends. She also likes that she feels such distance from him at their meeting, and even feels glad that she seems to scare him a bit.

Although Paul and Baxter are still rivals, Paul goes to visit him often and feels a close connection with the man. Mrs. Morel’s health, meanwhile, steadily declines. Paul cares for her tenderly but they are timid with each other because they both know that she is going to die but dare not say it. They are afraid of this new, strained intimacy between them and feel that curtains are being pulled away from their eyes.

Sometimes, Mrs. Morel grows bitter and talks about her marriage. She despises her husband and cannot forgive him for the past. Paul hates to listen to this and feels as though his life is being dismantled. He cries often and cannot concentrate on his work. He sometimes goes to see Clara, but there is a great distance between them. In November, Clara reminds Paul that it is her birthday and the pair arrange a trip to the seaside.

Paul is distant and unhappy on this trip and he talks often of his mother’s death. He is horrified by the idea that she does not want to die, and that she is determined to live, even while in so much pain. This thought frightens Clara. Paul cannot bear to see his mother in pain and admits to Clara that he wishes “she would die.”

Back in Nottingham, Paul goes to see Baxter and tells him about his trip away with Clara. Baxter says that Paul may “do as he likes,” but Paul explains that Clara is sick of him. He tells Baxter that he will go abroad after his mother’s death. Baxter mentions the scar on Paul’s face while the two men play draughts together. Paul says it happened when he fell off his bike. Baxter says that he attacked Paul because Paul laughed at him when he walked past with Clara, but Paul tells Baxter that he didn’t laugh at him.

As he walks home that night in the dark, Paul feels that he is walking away from earth and towards death but that this path only ever ends in “the sick room.” As he approaches his house, he sees the firelight in the window of Mrs. Morel’s room and thinks bleakly that when she passes away, the fire will go out. He goes up to see her and finds her awake and fretful. He does his best to soothe her until she falls asleep.

Paul has a letter from Miriam and goes to see her. Miriam tries to comfort him when she hears about his mother’s illness, but Paul finds her touch a torment and pulls away. Annie lives at home with him to care for Mrs. Morel, and in the evenings they often have friends come around, and are very fun and lively to relieve the stress of their days. Mrs. Morel is relieved to hear them laughing but she is in a great deal of pain all the time.

Paul does his best to comfort his mother, but she remains determined not to die. Sometimes, he looks into her eyes and feels as though he is making an agreement that, if she dies, he will die too. However, Mrs. Morel will not die; her pulse grows weak and she cannot eat or drink, but she endures. As Christmas approaches and Mrs. Morel grows ever weaker, Paul and Annie feel that they cannot cope and that they will “go mad” with the strain. Annie fears that Mrs. Morel will live through Christmas and Paul says that he will give her all the “morphia” that the doctor has sent him if this seems likely to happen.

A few nights later, Paul crushes the remaining morphia tablets into a glass of milk. Annie giggles hysterically when she sees this, and they take the drink to their mother. Mrs. Morel complains that it is bitter but drinks it down. Annie and Paul sit with her and comfort her. She is very small and fragile, like a child. Finally, she falls asleep and her breath begins to come as a long, low rattle. She keeps on like this with difficulty all night while Paul and Annie take turns to sit up with her.

The next morning, she is still the same and Paul sends Mr. Morel to work as usual. Paul is horrified as he watches his mother die and sits with her all day, terrified by the awful sound of her breath. At last, late that morning, Mrs. Morel dies. When Mr. Morel comes home, he does not notice that the blind is pulled down in her window. Paul tells him that she has died, and Morel is shocked for a moment, then eats his lunch in silence.

The undertaker is called, and Paul goes into his mother’s room to wait. He weeps over the sight of her body – she looks young again and peaceful in death – and he feels that he cannot let her go. When the undertaker arrives, Paul and Annie watch over their mother and see that she is treated gently. Paul goes out that night to spend time at a friend’s house. When he gets home, Mr. Morel is still up. Paul registers, with a shock, that his father has been afraid to go to sleep with his dead wife in the house.

Paul goes to Nottingham to see Clara and Clara is pleased to find that Paul is, externally, stoic and resigned to his mother’s death. The funeral is held during a rainstorm and Mrs. Morel is buried with William. After the funeral, Mr. Morel frets and cries to Mrs. Morel’s family that he always “did his best by her.” His behavior infuriates Paul because he feels that his father dismisses his mother. A few nights after this, Paul finds Mr. Morel sitting up by himself, very white and scared looking. He says he has dreamed about his wife. Paul says that he has very pleasant dreams about his mother. Mr. Morel does not answer and stares into the fire.

Baxter Dawes, meanwhile, has recovered in a hospital in Skegness. Paul goes out to visit him at Christmas. He and Baxter have become close friends and Paul hardly ever sees Clara now. A couple of days before he leaves, Paul tells Baxter that Clara is coming the next day and that he has told the landlady that Baxter’s wife will be arriving. Baxter seems a little shaken by this but does not protest. Paul says that Baxter is almost better, and Baxter agrees and says that Leonard thinks he will be able to “get him on in Sheffield.”

Paul admits that he feels more lost than Baxter. Baxter assures Paul that he will be alright, and the two men awkwardly discuss Clara. Baxter says that he does not know if he wants her back, but Paul insists that she wants him. He tells Baxter that Clara never really “belonged to him” and that was why she would not get a divorce. Baxter admits that he has been foolish, and Paul says that he will leave the next day. Nonetheless, he feels a sense of rivalry return between him and Baxter and they spend the rest of the evening in silence.

The next morning, Paul walks on the beach and feels that he is “cutting himself off from life.” He takes a bitter kind of pleasure in this. He goes to the station with Baxter to meet Clara from the train. She is rather aloof with the two men and sits and looks demurely out of the window when they get to the house. Baxter explains to her that Paul will leave them that night but that they have the house for another day. He tells her that he has a job and a house in Sheffield, and Clara listens thoughtfully.

From time to time, Clara glances at Paul, but she thinks, looking at him beside her husband, that there is something meagre and small about him. She finds him unmanly and thinks that he lacks conviction, unlike Baxter who can at least commit to something. She feels that Paul is fickle and unstable, and that Baxter appears dignified by comparison. She feels that she has a better understanding of men now and thinks that she will not miss Paul when he leaves.

The trio have dinner together and Clara feels irritated with Paul because she feels that he is deliberately absenting himself from the circle and leaving her for her husband. Paul feels forlorn and at a loss without his mother. She has been his support and his true companion and, now that she is dead, he feels as though he yearns for death himself. He does not fear death and feels that Clara cannot support him. He can see that Baxter does fear death and, although he has been careless with his life, he admits now that he was wrong and that he wants to live, and this makes him seem noble.

Paul leaves Clara and Baxter after dinner and goes to catch his train. When he has gone, Clara pours Baxter some tea and Baxter asks her uncertainly if she will leave that night; he says she shouldn’t travel in the rain. Clara asks if he wants her to stay and Baxter admits that he does. They hold each other and Clara joyfully pleads with Baxter to take her back. He tearfully asks her if she wants him.