The Longest Memory: Chapter 10: Lydia Summary & Analysis

As time passes, Lydia’s family tells her that she is becoming a woman and that she should adjust her posture and manners accordingly. Her mother tells her to walk with a book on her head, and Lydia amuses her brothers and Mr. Whitechapel by piling more books, until the Spenser, Milton, and Shakespeare fall from her head. Outside, at night, she and Chapel touch each other’s bodies while reciting lines from memorized books, and Lydia notices that she never feels uncomfortable with him.

Meanwhile, Lydia receives the visit of young men whom she is supposed to consider for marriage. However, she always compares them to Chapel and, as a result, finds their attitudes ridiculous and their intelligence despicable. When she discusses slavery with them, she is shocked to hear some men tell her not to worry about men’s affairs or argue that Africans are actually saved from barbarism when they are brought to America.

When Mr. Whitechapel sees Lydia’s lack of interest in her suitors, he calls her into his study and tries to encourage her, in an indirect but forceful way, to begin thinking of her life outside the household. Lydia gives him a vague answer about promising to think of what is best for her, which irritates her father. Her mother begins to pressure her more explicitly, highlighting the social skills and financial means of the various men she has met. Under such pressure, Lydia goes to her room and cries, wishing desperately that Chapel could be white, or that she could be black.

When her brother, Thomas, returns from the North, Lydia feels enthusiastic about his descriptions of interracial relationships, though he finds them disgusting. She is impressed to hear that many educated people are fighting against slavery and arguing that slaves should be paid for their labor. She imagines herself walking freely with Chapel in public in the North and later tells him about this dream. However, Chapel seems annoyed by the fact that Lydia has forgotten to memorize a Shakespeare sonnet, and makes sarcastic comments about all the suitors at her house taking up her time. Lydia defends herself by listing all the works she has memorized for him. Chapel then suddenly spins her around and kisses her, telling her he can no longer live like this.

Lydia proceeds to give Chapel more details about the North, encouraging him to try escaping there with her, but Chapel asks her many logistical questions to which she has to admit that she doesn’t know the answer. The two of them are excited, and Chapel reveals that he had always hoped he might one day escape like this, and that his love for her is stronger than anything, capable of moving him to brave any danger. That night, Lydia stays awake thinking of all the obstacles that such a journey would involve, but still tries to feel hopeful.

The next day, Lydia asks Thomas if she might accompany him on his trip to the North, which he refuses. Thomas mentions her request to their father and Mr. Whitechapel interrogates Lydia about it, who answers by saying that she is hoping she might find a suitable husband in the North, now that she has been presented to everyone in the South. This seems to convince her father, who nevertheless believes that the greatest obstacle will be her mother. Lydia’s mother does indeed object forcefully to the idea of a trip North, and Lydia realizes that the only way to convince her to agree to this trip is to have her come with her.

The logistics of the trip thus leaves Chapel and Lydia incapable of escaping together. Chapel initially feels resigned to his fate but then accepts to remain hopeful, as Lydia reminds him of all the obstacles they have overcome so far in their relationship. In the meantime, Lydia tries to interrogate Thomas discreetly about how slaves travel across the country. However, she soon annoys him with her questions about seemingly insignificant details and has to stop.

When Lydia tells Chapel about what she has learned from Thomas, the two of them dream of the various aspects of their future life together, even imagining the children they would have. Chapel concludes that he will write verses for a living, adding that he could never contain within a single poem the depth of what he feels for her.