The Return of the Native: Book 1, Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Johnny starts walking home but is scared of doing so in the dark. Instead, he turns around to ask if Eustacia will accompany him. He arrives back at the fire and finds Eustacia talking to Wildeve. But Johnny doesn’t alert them to his presence—though he doesn’t fully understand their conversation, he understands that he likely shouldn’t be privy to it. As such, he decides to walk home on his own after all.

On his way home, Johnny comes across the Venn’s wagon. The wagon scares Johnny because the children on the heath think of Venn as some sort of boogeyman. He tries to sneak by Venn’s wagon but ends up tripping and rolling right to Venn’s feet. Venn asks Johnny questions about Eustacia and the bonfire, and Johnny responds to them all. In return, Venn answers Johnny’s questions about his occupation and assures him that he isn’t any sort of boogeyman. Although Johnny is still nervous, this largely puts him at ease. Eventually, their conversation ends, and Johnny goes home, though not before Venn learns that Wildeve went to see Eustacia on the night he was supposed to marry Thomasin.