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Visitation: Chapter 37 (3)
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in NW, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class Identity and Social Mobility
Geography and Human Connection
Sex and Relationships
Altruism
Summary
Analysis
Earlier, on the day when he will eventually be murdered, Felix is naked in bed with Grace, who is clothed. Grace keeps a collection of princess figurines on her windowsill, where Felix sometimes accidentally knocks them off. Felix is afraid he’ll get fired soon because there’s not enough work to do at his job. Grace says she’s going to go to the carnival that night with her friend Angeline, since they have a tradition, but that she and Felix can go on Monday.
This new part of the book begins with Felix, a character who is mentioned only briefly as a murder victim in the previous part. Although this new part of the book does not immediately establish the chronology, the fact that Felix is still alive makes it clear that this chapter takes place before the carnival. The changing style of each part of the book (where the chapters all follow different naming conventions) helps to reflect the international character of Northwest London.
Themes
Felix leaves and runs into a young man who knows him. Felix pretends to recognize the young man until he finally happens to mention that his last name is Khan. Felix realizes he must be the youngest son of the Khans who runs a minimart in Willesden. Felix learns that this Khan isn’t at home with his parents anymore and just go married. The Khan kid says maybe he’ll see Felix at the carnival on Monday.
Felix’s relationship with the Khans shows how he is deeply connected to his neighborhood. It contrasts with Leah, who has become a little cut off from the neighborhood around her (which is why her encounters with Shar that break up her routine continue to be so memorable).
Themes
Felix arrives at a building with no doorbell where his father, Lloyd, lives. Felix asks about Sylvia, who owes him 40 pounds, but Lloyd says she left a while ago. Apparently, she went back to Madrid, stealing several of Lloyd’s things, like the toaster and DVD player.
Lloyd has superficial relationships with women he can’t trust. Through his more stable relationship with Grace, Felix seems to be trying to escape the cycle that his father is caught in.
Themes
Felix has brough a book with photo in it of Garvey House, where he and Lloyd once lived. The book describes Garvey House as “a mix of squat, halfway house and commune.” Lloyd instantly recognizes everyone in a photo from 1977.
Although a squat has the negative association of being an unstable living situation, a commune has more positive associations, evoking images of people working together to live in harmony. The Garvey House represents both the difficulties of poverty but also how it can help build a sense of solidarity among people.
Themes
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Page 37 of the book shows Lloyd himself, reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Lloyd is eager to show Felix Brother Raymond, who might not have been a real priest but who was always generous to Lloyd. Lloyd remembers a small white man who came to take pictures, and suddenly he gets angry that he never got any money from being photographed.
The number 37 again becomes crucial. Like Leah’s repeated encounters with Shar, it seems to be just a coincidence, but these coincidences also hint at the inevitability of strange connections between people in Northwest London.
Themes
Felix says he has to go. Lloyd tries to convince him to stay. He points out a woman that he claims is definitely Felix’s mother, Jackie. Felix is hopeful for a moment, looking at the photo, but remains firm about leaving.
Lloyd tries to get Felix to stay by appealing to the past, promising to reveal more about Felix’s mother. But Felix’s commitment to leaving shows how he is determined to leave the past behind, making a new life for himself with Grace.
Themes
As he’s leaving, Felix runs into Phil “Barnesy” Barnes, who lives next door to Lloyd and knew Felix when Felix was a kid. Barnesy isn’t on speaking terms with Lloyd, but he asks about Lloyd’s health and pretends to care anyway. Barnesy complains about how the police are always coming by and bothering him with questions about local children.
The fact that Barnesy and Lloyd live right next to each other but barely interact shows how urban life can be alienating. While it can bring together people in unexpected ways, it can also keep people at a distance from their geographically closest neighbors.
Themes
Barnesy asks about Felix’s sisters, and Felix says they’re still lazy as always. Barnesy seems hesitant but also asks about Felix’s younger brother. Felix says he’s doing OK. Barnesy talks a little longer about what’s wrong with education in Britain before finally Felix takes the bus to leave.
Barnesy’s willingness to have a long conversation with Felix, the son of a man he barely ever talks to, suggests that perhaps Barnesy is lonely and has few people to listen to him. This once again shows how city life can be alienating.
Themes
Felix thinks about when he first met Grace at a bus stop and she wouldn’t initially tell him her last name. Later, Grace feels that their meeting was fate, because she wasn’t even supposed to be at the bus stop that day. Now, Felix gets off the bus and enters the tube. Looking out the window, he sees a small woman with dark features and a dress that looks like it’s from the 1970s. He decides to smile at her, but the woman’s face just pulls tight.
It’s significant that Felix met Grace at a bus stop because bus stops are transitional places. It seems that Felix’s meeting with Grace coincided with him wanting to put his past behind him and not grow up to be like Lloyd. The word “grace” can refer to a divine blessing, and Felix’s meeting with Grace at the bus stop feels like fate—even though the audience already knows that Felix is doomed to die later in a stabbing.
Themes
