How Green Was My Valley

Huw grows up in the Valley, a small village which—as the name suggests—is located in the natural basin between two significant inclines. Towering over the village is the mountain, an unnamed local landmark that represents the natural beauty of the world. The mountain is where Huw wanders to collect his thoughts, where he watches birds and animals and where he indulges his love of nature. The mountain is so close to the family home and so easily accessible that it represents a form of idealized nature that goes hand in hand with country life. For the young Huw, the mountain symbolizes the beauty of the world. As he grows older, however, this natural beauty is infused with danger. His mother nearly dies on the mountainside during a difficult winter night, and he loses the use of his legs in the same incident. Marged dies on the mountainside. The mountain grows increasingly associated with danger and death as Huw ages. Even when he has his first romantic experiences on the mountain, he is then chased away by men from Ceinwen’s village. Huw’s changing perception of the mountain—from innocent and beautiful to dangerous and exciting—reflects his own loss of naivety as he grows from a boy to a man.