Part 5, Chapter 31 Summary

Colin finds the strength to break it off with Elizabeth. When he asks what she'll do with her life, she laughs and says that her chances at a good future are far less than his because she's a woman. Elizabeth wants Colin to go out and experience life and then come back to a community and commit to it wholly. He believes in himself, though and is relieved when the breakup occurs.

Ellen accompanies him to the train station the day he leaves Saxton. He carries one single suitcase and 50 pounds he had saved over the past four years. Ellen Saville is teary-eyed and emotional at her son's departure but knows he must go. Ellen is the only member of the Saville family to see him off at the station, to see him embrace a new life.

Part 5, Chapter 31 Analysis

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