Fern’s attempt to cause a miscarriage

Fern Woolbright’s attempt to cause a miscarriage is a desperate ride across open farmland, in which she tries to jolt her pregnancy away and imagines falling unconscious forever. The scene makes her distress physical, but the pony’s refusal to continue brings the ride to an end without any indication here that the pregnancy has been lost.

Immediate Context

The ride follows Fern’s conversation with James Frobisher. She walks him to his car and apologizes; he tells her she need not, saying that they might have made the same decision in a couple of years and that events have simply been speeded up. He has not touched her since she told him, but kisses her awkwardly on the cheek before driving away fast. The scene places Fern’s next action in the immediate aftermath of that parting, without spelling out a single motive for her attempt.

The Ride

On a beautiful evening, Fern leaves Bruno at the livery stable and persuades the stable girl to lend her a pony. The girl saddles a lively bay mare named Bunty, and Fern rides her out into the lane. Once clear of the bridle path, Fern turns into open farmland and pushes the mare as hard as she can over gates and hedges. Her thoughts make the purpose explicit: she hopes the jolting will dislodge the baby, and wishes she could fall and never regain consciousness.

The attempt depends on forcing the pony onward, but Fern cannot make the ride continue indefinitely. Bunty eventually refuses to jump again. Tired, the mare brings Fern’s effort to a halt, and Fern has to walk her back to the stable. There she sobs into Bunty’s hot, damp neck and apologizes. The mare is sweating and frothing greenish foam around her mouth; like Fern’s father, she will not look at Fern. The pony’s exhaustion and refusal are the immediate limit on Fern’s attempt, while the scene offers no confirmation that it has caused a miscarriage.

Intervention and Significance

When Fern returns home, her mother immediately tells her not to ride again and threatens to have Bruno sold for glue if she does. The threat turns the private danger of the ride into an explicit family prohibition, with Bruno’s future used to enforce it. The episode’s stark contrast is between Fern’s wish to make her body’s pregnancy end through physical violence and the practical interruption imposed by the exhausted mare and her mother’s order. Its outcome in this scene is restraint, not a stated resolution of the pregnancy.