The War I Finally Won

Oban, Jonathan’s strong and powerful Thoroughbred horse, symbolizes Ada’s growing courage. When Jonathan secretly visits the girls in Kent, he lets Ada ride Oban. When Oban is spooked by a grouse and suddenly runs, Ada is initially terrified but quickly regains her courage and relishes the moment: “Oban was flying, and I was flying with him” (233). Invigorated by the speed, Ada urges Oban on. She remembers arriving in Kent over a year earlier and looking longingly at a girl galloping on a pony. Ada feels that she has finally “become the person [she’d] longed to be” (234). She is usually preoccupied with fear and worry, but in this moment she feels a sense of joy at who she has become—free and brave atop Oban. She later describes it as “the best single hour of [her] life” (235).

It is significant that Ada chooses to gift Oban to Ruth. This is a courageous and bold choice: It is controversial to give Oban as a gift to Ruth so soon after Lord and Lady Thorton bestowed him to Ada in Jonathan’s memory. It is particularly contentious given Lady Thorton’s disapproval of Ruth. Ada does it anyway, publicly declaring her love for Ruth. In this way, Oban continues to showcase Ada’s courage in different situations.

Susan reads to Jamie and Ada from The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss, a story of a family marooned on a remote island. Based on the characters’ home in the story, Jamie refers to their cottage in Kent as their “cave.” Susan complains that the large cottage will be expensive to heat, but Jamie points out that “we want a big cave […] When the storms come, we’ll need room for everyone” (39). Jamie’s insistence that they need a cave for everyone highlights the recurring theme of family.

Like the cave for the stranded Robinson family, washed ashore on an island, the cottage becomes a refuge in impossibly challenging times for the disparate members of the household. They are metaphorically stranded together and must support each other as they weather the storms of war, including scarcity, death, grief, fear, and exhaustion. Ada initially dismisses Jamie’s references to the cave as childish, but near the end of the novel she writes to Ruth, reassuring her that none of them are homeless: “Jamie says our cave is big enough for everyone” (356).