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Part Three: Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Voyage in the Dark, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Homesickness, Memory, and Belonging
Sexism, Love, and Power
Race and Identity
Money and Happiness
Summary
Analysis
Anna meets with Vincent. When she contacted Walter, he explained that he was in Paris but that Vincent would meet with her. She tells Vincent that she’s pregnant, clarifying that the baby isn’t Walter’s. He makes a display of taking great pity on her, assuring her that she can have money for an abortion and telling her that everything is going to be all right. Even though he’s consoling her, Anna feels as if it would be impossible to actually connect with him.
Yet again, Walter uses Vincent as a buffer between Anna and himself. Of course, it might be true that he’s in Paris, but it’s still quite fitting that Anna has to go through Vincent in order to get money from Walter, who is—for all intents and purposes—completely inaccessible to her now that they’re no longer in a romantic or sexual relationship.
Themes
Vincent wonders aloud why Anna disappeared without telling Walter how to contact her, noting that he would have provided her with money earlier if he’d known where to reach her. She jokes that Walter probably would have sent receipts attached to the money, but Vincent tells her not to talk like that—after all, he points out, she must be pretty glad to have that money available to her now. Before they part ways, he makes her hand over all the letters she received from Walter. She glances at the one on top, which includes the words, “Shy Anna, I love you so much. Always, Walter.”
The excerpt from one of Walter’s letters sheds light on how, exactly, he was able to endear himself so thoroughly to Anna. Even though he broke things off in a very cold, unfeeling way, it’s now clear that he led her to believe that he was genuinely in love with her. “Shy Anna,” he wrote, “I love you so much.” It’s understandable, then, why Anna was so blindsided by his cruel and sudden decision to abandon her.
Themes
