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Chapter 25
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Vicar of Wakefield, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humility in the Face of Adversity
The Possibility of Redemption
Family and Society
Equality, Justice, and the Law
Travel, Home, and Belonging
Summary
Analysis
Dr. Primrose’s family wakes him up. They’ve left Olivia at the inn, as she has gotten even sicker. Moses goes to find apartment closer by but can only rent a single room; the gaoler allows Moses, Dick, and Bill to sleep in their father’s cell. Moses then goes to work to support the family. Dr. Primrose, exploring the prison, is determined to preach to his fellow inmates. They quickly accept this, but more out of a desire for entertainment than religion, and they mock Dr. Primrose throughout his service. Nevertheless, he affirms to them his desire to instill morals in them and warns them of the dangers of sin. Some prisoners praise this speech, and Dr. Primrose resolves to continue preaching the next day.
Many small redemptions occur throughout the prison sequences of the novel. Moses receives the chance to redeem himself as a worker, as he becomes the sole source of income for his family; the gaoler’s kindness toward Dr. Primrose redeems the cruelty of the justice system is redeemed, at least in part; and, most importantly, Dr. Primrose’s preaching, despite the skepticism of his family and friends, will redeem the prisoners.
Themes
Literary Devices
Jenkinson eats dinner with the Primroses and is struck by Sophia’s beauty. He also confesses to Moses that he swindled him for the spectacles and apologizes. Moses then asks him how Jenkinson picked him as a target and about his life as a con man. Jenkinson says that it was Moses’s fine clothes that alerted him. He then bemoans his own cleverness, claiming that his cunning nature prevents him from honest hard work and its subsequent reward, comparing himself to Flamborough. He then asks Dr. Primrose why he is in prison, hoping he may be able to do something to help. After hearing the story, Jenkinson slaps his forehead and seems to come up with some kind of plan, telling Dr. Primrose he will see what he can do.
Jenkinson’s revelations add depth to the cheating of Dr. Primrose, Moses, and Flamborough, suggesting that it was not only their unworldly simplicity that led them to become Jenkinson’s targets—it was also their vanity and pride, in the form of clothing or intellectual conversation. Though Jenkinson may have been the smarter person in those encounters, ultimately, he sees more value in a humble existence than an unstable and unsustainable life of immorality and crime. Though Jenkinson seems to feel that it is too late for him to reform, in helping Dr. Primrose he intuitively grasps that he has received a chance at redemption.
Themes
