The Ten Thousand Doors of January Summary and Analysis

Section Three Summary: Arcadia: A Door to Truth

Jane buries Mr. Havemeyer, and January relays her father’s message at the end of The Ten Thousand Doors, communicating that her father is alive. Jane finishes her story; she almost killed Julian when they first met in the world of the leopard-women, but she stopped her attack when he spoke English. Julian warned her that the Doors were being closed, and Jane returned to see her world once more. Afterward, she attempted to go back to the jungle world, but the Door exploded, and she was trapped. Julian said he would search for another Door for her as he searched for a way back to The Written if she would watch over January.

Jane asks January if she could open a Door back to her world, but January is doubtful she has the strength. Samuel rests to heal from the injuries Mr. Havemeyer inflicted on him when he forced Samuel to lead him back to the Zappia family cabin from Brattleboro. During this time, Samuel professes his love for January, which she does not immediately reciprocate. Jane, who awkwardly avoids the intimate moments shared between the two teenagers, tells them of a Door to Arcadia, a world hidden in Maine that January’s father told her about. The group travel there together, attempting to be as inconspicuous as possible. They reach a rocky island off the coast of Maine after rough travel and a draining swim in the Atlantic; there they find a dilapidated lighthouse and a Door made of pieces of driftwood next to the remains of a large sea creature.

On the other side of the Door, the travel companions are met by an old man John Solomon Ayers (Sol), who guards the Door. He recognizes January’s last name as “Scholar” and connects her to her father. Sol’s threatening demeanor immediately changes; he welcomes the travelers to Arcadia and brings them to the settlement. Along the way, Sol shares how he came to Arcadia; as an escaped prisoner and deserter of the Civil War, he stumbled through the Door to Arcadia by chance. He shares that the growing city of Arcadia is composed of similar refugees.

Sol introduces January’s group to the chieftain of the settlement, Molly Neptune. Molly brings the group into the city in Arcadia, explaining that it was likely connected with our world throughout history, but when the city was discovered, it was already abandoned. The denizens of Arcadia survive by discreetly supplementing what they can hunt and gather with stolen objects from our world. Rumors of thieving spirits off the coast of Maine have become a part of local lore; Molly shares that Arcadians are never caught because they use rare golden eagle feathers that, when blown upon by the holder, turn them invisible.

The group stays in Arcadia for a few days, contributing to the community, but soon there is alarming news; a young Arcadian happens upon an old woman who accidentally came through the Door and says there was a man who followed her. He also reports that Sol has been killed. The old woman is brought into the city, and January immediately notices that something is not quite right with her or her story. She confronts the woman that night, and it is revealed that the old woman is in reality a disguised Mr. Ilvane, a member of the Society, who wears a magical artifact he calls a “false-face.” Ilvane tells January that he encountered her father in Japan, pushed him through the Door, and then destroyed it, locking her father in The Written. After revealing more information about the Society, Ilvane attacks January, wounding her, before he returns to Maine through the Door, burning it down once he is on the other side.

January, guilt-ridden that her presence has threatened the Arcadians’ survival, goes back to the destroyed Door with Samuel, who encourages her to write it open. Determined to face the Society directly, January abandons Jane and Samuel to travel to the destroyed Door in Ninley, Kentucky, where she remembers encountering a Door when she was 7. When she departs with Bad, Molly—relieved that the Door has been reopened—tells January that Sol’s golden feather had been taken, meaning that January now faces an invisible hunter on her journey.

Section Three Analysis: Arcadia: A Door to Truth

The story of Sol, Molly Neptune, and the Arcadians aligns with Jane’s reasoning for emigrating to another world, even if it was far less inhabitable. Their discovery of Arcadia and the ruined city of a people long since gone provides the foundations to form their own community; no longer are they limited or mistreated. Even though all of them have different backgrounds and happened upon Arcadia by chance, they were all escaping something. Arcadia became a city of refugees who work together to survive. The world and the city these individuals build communally becomes an ideal foil to the world that limits and dehumanizes them; it is a Utopia. In fact, the name Arcadia comes from a real region in Greece, and has come to connote an idyllic, natural place. In this group, January and her companions find a cluster of people who all work toward the same goal and have the freedom to explore how they can best serve their fellow Arcadians.

January’s encounter with Mr. Ilvane also reveals the truth of the Society and her father’s fate. Julian’s information that the Society has been seeking Doors to close them is confirmed. Mr. Ilvane also reveals the longevity of the Society. For nearly two centuries, the founder has chased traditional stories in order to institute a new order he considers “the Modern.” The goals of the Society, to implement order, to civilize, and to introduce modern concepts that sacrifice local traditions, resonates strongly with imperialism. Indeed, Jane’s narrative hinges on the British occupation of East Africa, and many of the Arcadians escaped their world after their way of life was threatened by expanding nations.

At the end of the section, January realizes that she must face the threat of the Society alone. Not wanting to cause her companions any more trouble or put them in danger, she finds her resolve. With this truth in mind, January’s determination to both find her father and stop the Society drives the rest of the novel’s plot.