The Railway Children

Fiction | Book | Middle Grade | Published in 1906

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

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Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary

Mother seeks ways of reuniting the Russian Exile with his family, writing letters to “Editors and Secretaries of Societies and Members of Parliament” in search of information or assistance, but her attempts yield no results (166). Bobbie remains occasionally haunted by the near-disaster on the railway line, and sometimes awakes from nightmares. She is, however, always comforted by the thought that nothing bad happened thanks to her and her siblings’ timely intervention.

The children are invited to a special reception at the railway station in honor of their heroism. Mother is proud of them, but warns them that, “if the presentation is money, you must say, ‘Thank you, but we’d rather not take it’” (169). The children attend the reception, at which they discover that the old gentleman is actually the “District Superintendent” of the railway and therefore a part of the ceremony (176). The children are each handed “a gold watch and chain” with an engraving commemorating their saving of the train as a reward, which they accept (177).

Bobbie writes another letter to the old gentleman, asking him to get out of the train to speak to her on his next ride. The old gentleman meets the children at the station, and Bobbie tells him about the Russian Exile and his quest to be reunited with his family. The old gentleman is sympathetic and recognizes the name of the Russian Exile as a famous author, claiming, “every Russian knows his name” (185). He agrees to ask his contacts in London on the Russian Exile’s behalf.

A few days later, the old gentleman arrives to pay the children a visit, and brings news that he has located the Russian Exile’s wife and family. Everyone celebrates, and the old gentleman treats Mother with great respect even though she ends the visit by telling him she will not be able to host him at the house again, since “we live very quietly” (190). The old gentleman is not offended by this, although the children are disappointed.

Chapter 8 Summary

The children discover that Mr. Perks will soon have a birthday, although he says he never celebrates his birthday. The children afterward have an unpleasant encounter with a bargeman on the canal, who is angry with Peter’s attempts to fish there. Peter, however, is defiant and continues to fish after the bargeman leaves to visit the local pub. While he and his wife are gone, the barge catches fire, and the children intervene to rescue the bargeman’s sleeping baby and save the barge. Bobbie runs to the pub to alert the bargeman, Bill, who is grateful to the children for saving his baby and barge and who now offers them his friendship in response.

Chapter 9 Summary

The children set out to collect birthday gifts for Mr. Perks, combining both their own gifts with gifts donated by some of the townspeople. When the children turn up at Mr. Perks’ house with the gifts, Mrs. Perks is very touched by the generosity and thoughtfulness, but Mr. Perks reacts with anger to what he sees as patronizing “charity” on the part of the children and his neighbors. Mr. Perks relents and agrees to accept his presents once the children explain their motivation and the high respect the townspeople have for him.

Chapters 7-9 Analysis

Just as the Russian Exile’s imprisonment and misfortune mirrors the circumstances of the children’s father, so too does the old gentleman’s success in reuniting the Russian Exile with his lost family foreshadow the reunion he will effect between Father and the children at the novel’s end. Mother’s attachment to the Russian Exile and her fervent desire to help him reflects her deep sorrow at her husband’s absence, and her determination to right miscarriages of justice whenever she encounters them. Her insistence that the children should not accept money at the reception in their honor does, however, once again stress to the reader that Mother maintains her pride and independence regardless of the amount of hardship she endures.

The old gentleman’s role as the District Superintendent of the railway makes his connection to the railway stronger and creates an even more vivid association between the old gentleman and what the railway represents for the children: the wider world, and their hopes of maintaining some form of connection with their absent father. The old gentleman also acknowledges the power of writing, of storytelling, just as Mother does. He recognizes the Russian Exile as a famous author and claims, like Mother, to have read his books. This creates further ties between the old gentleman and the children’s family: he is both a well-connected, important man in London, and a man of culture who can recognize and respect Mother’s intelligence and dignity. The old gentleman’s willingness to help others speaks to the novel’s theme of the importance of friendship and kindness.

Friendship and kindness, however, are not always as straightforward as they at first appear to be. The incident with Bill the bargeman in Chapter 8, and Mr. Perks’ anger at the offering of birthday gifts in Chapter 9, are both incidents that show how the children do not always understand the boundaries of class differences. Although the children are currently poor, their background is still upper-class, and a divide remains between them and the characters of a lower socio-economic background. These differences are sometimes embodied in subtle ways, as when the children hear Bill “talking in a language with which the children were wholly unfamiliar” (210-211), or when Bobbie notices how Bill seems completely at ease while out with his “mates” in the pub, as he is amongst people “who liked the same sort of things, and talked the same sort of talk” (208).

Likewise, when Mr. Perks interprets their offering of birthday gifts as injurious to his pride, and almost ends his friendship with them over it, it becomes apparent that the children cannot necessarily completely erase the class barriers that exist between themselves and others. Although their kindness and innocent intentions do eventually win everyone over, the incidents of miscommunication reveal that not everything can be surmounted through friendship alone.