Student Question
How do we know the characters were walking in circles in Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)?
Quick answer:
In "Three Men in a Boat," J. and Harris get lost in the Hampton Court maze, repeatedly ending up in the center despite various attempts to find the exit. They are followed by a group of people also trying to escape, but their constant return to the center reveals they are walking in circles. Even with guidance from a young employee, they fail to find their way out, confirming their circular path.
When J. and Harris stop at Hampton Court in chapter 6, they decide to go through the maze in the garden—where they get lost. We know they are lost and walking in circles because they keep ending up in the middle of the maze.
They have twenty people following them, all trying to get out of the maze. Although Harris keeps turning right, they don't seem to be getting anywhere, even after they have been walking a long time. Though they keep trying to find the entrance to the maze, they constantly end up back in the center. From this, it becomes obvious they are are going in circles. As the story says:
And three minutes later they were back in the centre again.
After that, they simply couldn't get anywhere else. Whatever way they turned brought them back to the middle. It became so regular at length, that some of the people stopped there, and waited for the others to take a walk round, and come back to them.
Even when a young employee tries to lead them out, they end up, once again, at the center of maze.
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