Herland: Chapter 12: Expelled Summary & Analysis

Van writes that even though all the men meant to return to America eventually, they don’t like the idea of being kicked out of Herland for a crime. Terry is furious and kept under guard in a private set of rooms. He argues that the women in Herland don’t know the first thing about sex, and Van observes that what Terry really means is that the women don’t understand his brand of masculinity. Van himself now views masculinity in a new light and Jeff has been “thoroughly Herlandized.” Moadine keeps watch over Terry while preparations for leaving Herland are made—Ellador and Van will go with Terry. Jeff, however, privately says he wouldn’t dream of bringing Celis to the dirty streets of America and tells Van he must tell Ellador what it’s really like. Van realizes there is something to this and decides to be more honest with Ellador about America.   

Van tells Ellador she must prepare herself to be somewhat shocked by the appearance of American cities, which are not as clean as Herlandian ones. Ellador persists in believing that life in America must be much more exciting and fulfilling than life in Herland, saying that the Herlandians have done what they could with one sex, but that America must be far better because it is a bi-sexual culture. Even when Van tries to explain to her the existence of corruption, insanity, and disease, Ellador overlooks it. As for himself, Van notices that he now considers Herlandian life—with all its health, peace, and prosperity—normal and thinks of life elsewhere as abnormal. Above all, Ellador wants to see what marriage and women outside of Herland are like. Still, Van begins to dread what will happen once Ellador sees the rest of the world.

As the time to leave draws near, Van recognizes more and more of the defects of American culture and society. Van realizes that he, Jeff, and Terry felt like they missed the larger part of life when they entered Herland and discovered that there really were no men. More importantly, they assumed the women felt the same way. What Van and Jeff have come to realize, however, is that a man’s world means little to Herlandians. When the three American men think of manhood and manliness, they picture men everywhere doing the world’s work and improving everything, whereas when they think of women, they simply think of the gender. For Herlandians, this is reversed: when they think of womanhood, they think of doing the world’s work; when they think of men, they simply think of the gender. Just telling the women that things are different elsewhere doesn’t alter the Herlandians’ beliefs about womanhood.

One of the transformations that Jeff and Van (but not Terry) go through in Herland is that they begin to see women “not as females, but as people.” Because the Herlandians have no concept of Western “marital indulgence,” they struggle to understand why Terry attacked Alima the way he did. Because sex is inextricably bound with ideas of motherhood, Ellador struggles to understand why women would want to do it without intending to create a child and calls it unnatural. Even when Van tries to explain it as a way to show love between married couples, Ellador struggles to understand and asks him to continue being patient with her—to her, and others, the process of conception is holy and it must stay that way.

Celis reveals that she is pregnant. Ellador is momentarily jealous but tells Van that it’s better that she’s not pregnant and asks Van if they can wait to try for a baby until it’s safe and their travels are over. Although somewhat stung by this, Van says that he wants Ellador with him no matter what and will let her decide when they try to conceive. To the reader, Van admits that Ellador’s companionship is enough to live on. He struggles to explain what Ellador’s love means to him. Van admits that men in general say some great things about women but also think that they are “limited beings—most of them.” Van describes how men honor women for certain qualities but dishonor them by violating their virtues. As Van explains, women are valued only as long as they stay in their place—the home.  

Over time, Van begins to understand that Herlandian women are different than American women—they cannot be treated as inferiors because they are not shy or weak but must be treated as equals. Both Jeff and Van accept this after their marriages, but Terry does not. Consequently, Van and Jeff have happy, comfortable marriages while Terry’s falls apart.

Shortly before their departure, Van tells Ellador that if she wants to stay then he will fly Terry down and then come back to her. However, she insists on leaving with him to see the world. During this time, Terry grows angrier and angrier at the women. Still madly in love with Alima, Terry yearns to see her, but discovers she has left that part of the country to avoid him. To Van, Terry complains of the way Alima fought back when he tried to “master” her, calling it an indecent move. Noting the irony in this, Terry smiles and says he just wants to get her alone again. However, she never comes to see him as the day for his departure approaches.

A council of the wisest women in the land present information they gathered from the men—not just what the men told them, but what they studiously avoided talking about during their captivity—to Ellador. They explain to her all the conclusions they have come to about the outside world, including the worst parts of it. After the council talks to Ellador, Jeff and Van are asked to come into the room. Somel and Zava are there and they ask if they are correct in thinking that despite the world’s progress, disease and violence run rampant. Jeff and Van confirm the truth of this. The tutors say that, given this confirmation, the men must swear not to tell anyone where Herland is until Ellador has returned—and then, the Herlandians will only agree to let in more outsiders if Ellador presents a positive report of the outside world. They agree and Terry, Ellador, and Van leave Herland together.