North and South Lesson Plan

Trace Margaret’s emotions over the course of the visit to Helstone. What do they show about who she has become after her years in Milton?

Margaret finds Helstone changed, but only slightly. Unlike the parsonage, which is so different it seems to be another place altogether, Helstone as a whole is different in ways that are “slight, yet pervading all.” The natural progress of life--a felled tree, a new marriage, an abandoned cottage--is present in Helstone, and it is unsettling to Margaret. She feels that this type of slight change is more painful than total change. After sleeping, Margaret awakens to a different attitude. She recognizes that change is necessary, and that...