How Green Was My Valley

Huw notices a change has come over Reverend Gruffydd, who now seems “tired, and yet restless, and somehow older” (304). Huw cannot bring himself to tell the priest that he will not join their furniture making session because he is taking Ceinwen to listen to the nightingales. He and Ceinwen walk up the mountains; Huw feels his “danger light” (305) flashing. They wait hours for the birds to begin singing, each of them taking a nap. When they wake, Ceinwen asks Huw to make a fire to keep them warm. They eat their picnic and talk about marriage and babies. She asks Huw to marry her, and he says no to her “silliness” (308). Ceinwen cries. Huw comforts her. They listen to the nightingales. When Huw notes the late hour, Ceinwen curls up next to him and kisses him. He stops when he sees a lamp approaching through the darkness. He gathers their things and leads her further up the mountain, away from the light. Huw distracts the unseen men by freeing their horse. Ceinwen rushes back to her village and Huw walks home. There, he speaks to his brothers. They warn him that the men from the other village have been out searching for Huw. If they had caught him, he warns, they would “burn the village” (312) and punish Huw. They send him to bed.

The next day, the chapel congregation talks about the choir’s performance for the queen and the men of the other village searching the mountain. When the choir returns, the people of the Valley gather to welcome them home. Gwilym proudly displays a picture of Queen Victoria, given to Ivor. The crowd toasts the Queen and cheers when Ivor describes how he shook her hand. Gwilym is drunk, one of the few times Huw ever sees his father in this inebriated state. The other times include Davy’s heroic performance for the Welsh rugby team and, Huw explains, the night his university scholarship examinations took place. Huw is one of four students who takes the exams. He rarely sees Ceinwen after the incident on the mountain. The exams are easy for Huw, who has the benefit of being well read. Many Welsh children, however, suffer because of the way in which the English education system discriminates against students who speak Welsh as a first language. Huw sees a student wearing the Cribban (also known as the Welsh Not), a punishment in English-speaking school systems where any student caught speaking Welsh is made to wear a board around their neck bearing the words “I must not speak Welsh in school” (320). Huw tries to help the young student but becomes overwhelmed by rage. He only gathers his senses a short time later, when a police officer tells him that he “nearly killed Mr. Jonas-Sessons” (321). A police officer takes Huw home, explaining that he knocked Mr. Jonas to the ground for putting the board around the girl’s neck. When the girl’s father finds out what the teacher did, the policeman explains, he will “be wanted again” (322). The police officer assures Huw that he will not send Huw to jail. Gwilym rules that Huw should take the university examination, even if he has been expelled. Huw, however, wants to join his family in the mines. With his mother’s support, his father concedes and announces that he will “get drunk” (324). Reverend Gruffydd says nothing to Huw, other than to suggest that he apologize to Mr. Jonas. Huw finds the teacher’s house and talks to Mrs. Jonas, who allows him to meet with her husband. Mr. Jonas rejects Huw’s apology, calling him a “gutter-bred rat” (326). When Mr. Jonas deplores the Welsh language as “a crude means of communication, between tribes of barbarians stinking of woad” (327), Huw reminds the teacher that he himself is Welsh. Mr. Jonas throws him out as Huw rescinds his apology. On his way out, Huw discovers that Mrs. Jonas’s maiden name was Morgan. Speaking to Reverend Gruffydd, Huw asks the priest about his worries. The priest assures him that they will resume work on the furniture soon.

Iestyn’s sister Blodwen visits the Morgan house. Huw begins to suspect from other people’s comments that Angharad has been “having trouble” (330) in her marriage. Huw agrees to take the harp to the Evans home, Tyn-y-Coed, and Blodwen invites him in for tea. She invites him to work in the Evans’ house, rather than go down the mine but he declines. They talk about Owen, unions, and the evening’s meal. Blodwen expects Owen to join them for dinner. Huw leaves after agreeing to mend the furniture in Tyn-y-Coed. In the following days, Huw spends time with Reverend Gruffydd. The priest is struggling to deal with his aging. He wonders what gives him the right to preach to others, since his “sins are as great” (336) as those of other men.

Huw prepares to work his first shift down the mine. He rides the elevator cage down into the mine with Ivor, Dai Bando, and Cynfartha. For “hour after sweating hour” (338), Ivor teaches Huw how to work in the mine. After his shift, Huw emerges into the cool night and walks home, feeling “like a man” (339). He washes the coal from his skin and eats dinner with his family. Several months pass and Huw receives a letter from Ceinwen. While he waits excitedly to see her again, Huw watches Owen depart for a meeting in London. He has been asked about his engine and plans to present it to potential investors. Huw visits Blodwen with a “secret” (342) letter from Owen which seems to make her happy. Iestyn is going to South Africa on a business trip, Blodwen tells Huw. He learns that this means that Angharad can visit the family home while her husband is away.

Huw meets with Ceinwen on the mountain. She asks him to take her “to the Town Hall for the acting” (344) as she wants to be an actress. Despite his mixed feelings, Huw agrees. They have sex on the side of the mountain and declare their love for one another. Before they depart, they agree to meet together to see the travelling theatre group. In the mine, Huw counts down the minutes until he sees Ceinwen. On Saturday, they go to the show to see a selection of Shakespeare scenes. The show is interrupted by the sounds of a choir from outside. Huw hurries Ceinwen through a back door of the town hall as he learns that the crowd outside are from the chapel. They are angry that the town hall has been given over to the actors. They consider the performance to be profane. Huw talks to Dai and Cynfartha, who are determined to leave through the front door. He walks out with them, right into the midst of a brawl. When the police appear, Huw is concerned about Ceinwen. Taking the janitor’s assurance that she got away safely in a coach, he returns home. Gwilym confronts him about his whereabouts. Huw admits to going to the performance. Gwilym accuses him of disgracing his family with the “pollution of Satan” (354). He makes Huw bathe and pray before he is allowed to go to bed. In the following days, the family receives a telegram from Owen. He is travelling to America with Gwilym Jr. to promote his engine. He has also married Blodwen Evans. Huw longs to be married to Ceinwen. Beth is angry that they have denied her the opportunity to bid them farewell to America.

Angharad is “changed beyond all knowing” (356) now that she is married. She lives at Tyn-y-Coed but does not visit the family home. Instead, the family takes turns to visit her. Huw goes to the house and notices the physical change in his sister, whose hair has whitened and whose face has become worn down. As they talk, she begins to cry. She will never go back to the family house, she says. She wants Huw to stop working in the mine. When tea is served, she bickers with the Evans family’s elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Nicholas. Huw updates her on the events in the Valley, knowing that she is mostly interested in the wellbeing of Reverend Gruffydd. He tells her that the priest is “not as he was” (360). He explains that Reverend Gruffydd, much like Angharad, seems ill inside. Angharad tells him to leave, so he goes straight to the priest’s house. He tells the old man that Angharad has a “sickness of heart” (361). Reverend Gruffydd falls silent and Huw leaves. Weeks later, Huw is summoned to Tyn-y-Coed again. Angharad apologizes for her behavior. She explains that Huw was the only one who cared about her well-being. Huw returns home. His brother Ivor is now a father as Bronwen has given birth to a son named Taliesin. However, Ivor dies within a month. Huw remembers working a night shift when the roof collapsed on top of Ivor and left Huw feeling “helpless” (363) in the dark of the mine.

Bronwen grieves for Ivor. Huw begins to work in a blacksmith shop. Noticing how lonely Bronwen seems with no man around her house, Beth tells Huw that he should go to live with her so that she can “cook and mend for somebody” (365) until she finds another husband. The thought of Bronwen marrying another man fills Huw with anger. Bronwen agrees that Huw can move into her house. For the first few months, the house is quiet. The atmosphere in the house is respectful and reserved.