When Tom is away at school, for example, Maggie forgets to feed his rabbits. However, he tended to punish her harshly when she deviated from his value system and standards of morality, a pattern that continues into their adulthood. When they were children, Maggie worshipped Tom and longed for his approval and affection. In The Mill on the Floss, memories of childhood can provide precious comfort against the harsh realities of adulthood, but they can also create a far-reaching cycle of stasis and pain. Wakem (the lawyer who contributes to the loss of the mill) becomes a force of destruction, conflict, and death long after the originating incident. Tulliver, Tom and Maggie’s father, the memory of his humiliation at the hands of Mr. Similarly, old grudges have a long afterlife. Maggie’s conflict with Tom and her desire for his love and acceptance, for instance, is a thread that continues from their early lives at Dorlcote Mill, through their school years, and into their troubled adolescence and adulthood. In the novel, seemingly trivial incidences in those early years later take on new significance. Although The Mill on the Floss covers about fifteen years in the lives of its protagonists, siblings Tom and Maggie Tulliver, the story constantly hearkens back to their childhood.
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