The History of Mr Polly (2007) Plot Summary Explained

Polly decides to set his shop on fire because he has become deeply unhappy in his marriage and life. After fifteen years of constant bickering with Miriam and feeling trapped in his draper's shop, he plans to end his life and hopes the insurance money from the fire will provide for Miriam. However, the plan goes wrong, he survives the blaze and instead becomes a minor local celebrity by rescuing an elderly neighbour from the fire.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, Polly is shown wandering the countryside contemplating suicide, indicating his growing desperation.

• polly
• arson
• suicide
• insurance
• fishbourne
• shop fire

Polly leaves Miriam because their marriage has deteriorated into constant arguments and mutual resentment over fifteen years of running the draper's shop together. Despite surviving the botched arson attempt and becoming a local celebrity, Polly cannot find peace at home. He eventually leaves to work as a handyman and ferryman for a rural innkeeper, seeking a simpler life away from the unhappiness that defined his marriage.

Foreshadowing: The summary notes their relationship was marked by "constant bickering and friction that erodes affection" throughout the fifteen years.

• polly
• miriam
• marriage
• leave
• divorce
• fishbourne

Jim, the innkeeper's drunken brother-in-law who bullies other men into leaving, chases Polly in a fit of anger. During the confrontation, Jim pursues Polly and accidentally drowns in the weir. The death is depicted as an accident rather than intentional, removing the primary source of danger and hostility at the inn and altering the local power dynamics.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the film establishes Jim as a bully who creates a hostile atmosphere at the inn, with Polly clashing with him multiple times.

• jim
• drowning
• weir
• inn
• accident

Polly returns to Fishbourne three years after leaving Miriam. When he arrives, he discovers that Miriam now runs a tea-shop with her sister and believes Polly has drowned. Rather than reveal himself immediately, Polly eventually settles back into life at the inn, finding a measure of contentment in the familiar rhythm of work and small-town life despite the uncertainties of his past.

Foreshadowing: After Jim's death, Polly is left without the protective structure the inn provided, creating impetus for change.

• polly
• fishbourne
• return
• miriam
• tea-shop

After Polly leaves to work at the inn, Miriam continues running the shop in Fishbourne. Three years later, when Polly returns, he discovers she has opened a tea-shop with her sister. She believes Polly has drowned, suggesting she has managed to rebuild her life independently despite the collapse of their marriage.

Foreshadowing: The fifteen years of marriage established Miriam as a practical, capable woman who managed the shop alongside Polly.

• miriam
• tea-shop
• fishbourne
• independent
• life

Polly marries Miriam Larkins, one of his cousins, after a brief romantic misstep with a schoolgirl while cycling in the countryside. The marriage represents Polly's attempt at a conventional life following his father's death and the receipt of a £500 bequest. However, the union quickly becomes troubled, with the couple bickering constantly throughout their fifteen years running the draper's shop.

Foreshadowing: The youthful countryside romance foreshadows Polly's difficulty with conventional domestic life.

• polly
• miriam
• marriage
• cousin
• wedding

After his father's death, Polly inherits £500. Family friend Mr Johnsen urges Polly to invest the money in a shop, viewing it as a practical opportunity for someone with retail experience. However, Polly dislikes the idea of running a shop, having just been dismissed from his father's draper's shop. Despite his reservations, he eventually marries Miriam and they open a draper's shop in Fishbourne using some of these funds.

Foreshadowing: Mr Johnsen's insistence on investing foreshadows Polly's entrapment in shopkeeping life.

• bequest
• inheritance
• £500
• johnsen
• investment
• shop

Polly becomes a minor local celebrity because, rather than dying in the fire as planned, he rescues an elderly neighbour from the blaze. This act of bravery transforms what was intended as his suicide into a heroic moment, giving him a sense of notoriety in Fishbourne, though it fails to resolve his underlying unhappiness.

Foreshadowing: The botched arson attempt was meant to end his life, but the rescue introduces an unexpected twist.

• celebrity
• fire
• rescue
• hero
• fishbourne

After leaving Miriam and the failed arson attempt, Polly accepts work as a handyman and ferryman for a rural innkeeper. He hopes this position will provide a simpler, steadier life away from the unhappy marriage and the burdens of shopkeeping. The inn represents a fresh start, though it brings new challenges including the dangerous Jim.

Foreshadowing: The inn position is available partly because Jim's bullying has driven away other workers.

• inn
• handyman
• ferryman
• work
• employment

Polly contemplates suicide after fifteen years of an unhappy marriage to Miriam, constantarguments at the shop, and a growing sense of entrapment in his life. While out walking in the country, he reaches a breaking point and decides to end his life. He plans to set his shop on fire to secure insurance money for Miriam, though this plan ultimately fails.

Foreshadowing: The marriage descended into "constant bickering and friction" over fifteen years, building his desperation.

• suicide
• despair
• marriage
• happiness
• contemplation

Polly finds a measure of rough contentment at the inn after returning to Fishbourne following Jim's death. Working as a handyman and ferryman, he embraces a quieter, more stable existence with a renewed sense of purpose. The inn's familiar rhythm of work and small-town life provides him with the freedom and simplicity he sought, marking a hopeful conclusion to his journey from entrapment to freedom.

Foreshadowing: His earlier dissatisfaction stemmed from feeling trapped in conventional life; the inn represents the opposite.

• happiness
• inn
• contentment
• freedom
• peace
• fulfilment