Chapter 23 Summary

"Quatorze Juillet"

In reference to the chapter Quatorze Juillet (July 14), the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, in four paragraphs Crick refers his school class again to the events of the French Revolution as an event to learn from today, emphasizing the fact that even if one historical symbol is knocked down (be it a Bastille or a brewery), another will rise to replace it.

Chapter 23 Analysis

"Symbolic value" is espoused by Tom Crick as being the importance of certain events in history, and not necessarily their grand scale. A number of learned commentaries written about "Waterland" cast Crick as a classic protagonist; in fact, he is a narrator / observer, and only at rare points in the work does Crick initiate - he typically responds, takes note and comments, as a historian would do.