Chapter 14 Summary

"De La Revolution"

"De La Revolution" sets out Tom Crick's essential theory of History as a loop, going backwards and forwards through Time. He uses the French Revolution here (as he does later in the story) as an example of influences in history that loop through Time. He is again challenged by Price, who sees History as "nostalgia."

Chapter 14 Analysis

The theme of history as a nostalgic, useless endeavor is not restricted to academics. Price the school boy and the technocratic Headmaster are Swift's examples of modern thought - Crick's view of history echoes the words of Winston Churchill - "Those fail to study history are doomed to repeat it." Crick the history teacher might go further - does History will repeat itself inevitably, no matter what we do?

Crick makes it plain that he and Mary Metcalfe were destined to marry, and...