William Gregory: The Restless Heart of Beyond That, the Sea

Overview

William Gregory is the elder son of Ethan and Nancy Gregory, the host family for Beatrix (Bea) Thompson, a London evacuee during World War II. He first appears as a boy at the Boston dock, “taller than expected with green eyes.” Over the novel he becomes Bea’s secret love, a man haunted by guilt over his comfortable wartime life, and eventually a husband and father whose early death reshapes the surviving characters. William embodies the tension between duty and desire, and his arc illustrates the novel’s central themes of belonging and displacement, memory and grief, and love, loss, and second chances.

Plot Role

William serves as the primary romantic connection to Beatrix. Their relationship develops in secret—nightly meetings in the woods, kisses in the pantry, a pact to write. He is the one who searches for her by telephone when he visits London after his father’s death, and the one who marries another woman (Rose) after Bea rejects a future together. His death, revealed in chapter 94, is a turning point: Rose must grieve alone, Gerald inherits the role of family caretaker, and Bea eventually marries Gerald, returning to the Maine house that holds William’s memory.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

William’s motivations emerge early. In chapter 15, when Bea asks what he loves about Thanksgiving, he answers “the thanks,” surprising himself—revealing a reflective, earnest nature beneath his casual exterior. He feels guilt for enjoying life during the war while others suffer; in chapter 31 he tells Bea he has calculated the days until he can enlist. This guilt drives him to argue with his father about staying home to do war work (chapter 30). Yet he also craves connection: he teaches Bea to rake leaves, escorts her to parties, and creates the secret “code” knock (later used at her London flat). His traits include brooding seriousness, a capacity for deep loyalty, and an inability to be fully honest with those he loves—shown when he tells only half-truths about his London weekend to his fiancée Rose.

Chronological Arc

• Childhood (ch. 6, 15): William meets Bea at the dock, observes her difference from local girls, begins a friendship.
• Adolescence (ch. 31, 51): He confides his guilt to Bea; they begin a clandestine romance—kissing in the pantry, meeting in the woods at night.
• Early adulthood (ch. 56): On the eve of Bea’s departure, he memorizes her scrapbook and feels “physically attached” to her. He agrees to Harvard at her urging.
• Reunion in London (ch. 60–62, 66–68): After his father’s death, he finds Bea, admits he is engaged to a pregnant Rose, has a tense day observing her life, and shares a final goodbye kiss.
• Marriage and decline (ch. 81): Rose observes William’s drinking, late hours, and emotional distance. He brings her yellow roses but sleeps on the couch.
• Death (ch. 94–95): William dies before the novel’s end; his funeral is the backdrop for reconnections between Bea, Gerald, and Rose.

Relationships

With Beatrix

William’s connection to Bea is the novel’s emotional spine. It begins as childhood friendship, deepens into secret love, and persists as a lifelong bond even after they marry others. In London, Bea notes she has “always wanted him,” but she concludes that their two worlds “should never have met” and chooses to let him go. William, in turn, accepts that “they are not meant to be together.” Yet Gerald later accuses William of still being in love with Bea years after their separation.

With Gerald

William is an older brother who sometimes dismisses Gerald (criticizing his choice to stay in their small town), but also shares moments of genuine warmth—at church during the hymn “Jerusalem” they clasp hands. Gerald carries resentment about William’s secret romance and feels he can never measure up.

With Nancy and Ethan

Nancy explains that William and his father are “too alike,” both stubborn as they argue about the summer job (ch. 30). Ethan dies before the London reunion, leaving William to grapple with unfinished emotional business.

With Rose

Rose loves William despite his emotional distance. She drops his children at her mother’s to watch TV alone, reflects on his drinking, and considers divorce. His death leaves her with complex grief and suspicion about Bea.

Key Decisions and Consequences

• Choosing not to enlist immediately: Instead, he runs a lawn-mowing business and keeps air‑raid shifts. This decision reflects his guilt and his desire to contribute, but it also keeps him in the orbit of his family and Bea.
• Keeping the relationship with Bea secret: The secrecy causes pain for Gerald (who feels excluded) and later complicates William’s marriage. Gerald’s witnessing of their last night in Maine lodges anger in him that lasts decades.
• Marrying Rose while still attached to Bea: This decision haunts William; Rose senses his detachment, and the marriage becomes strained. It also forecloses any possibility of a future with Bea.
• Traveling to London after his father’s death: This reunion reopens old wounds for both William and Bea and forces them to confront their changed circumstances. It ends with his acceptance that they are not meant to be together.

Theme/Symbol Connections

• Belonging and Displacement: William belongs fully to America, yet he feels displaced by the war’s moral weight. He admires Bea’s world but cannot enter it; in London, she observes that he is an outsider there, just as she was once an outsider in Boston.
• Memory and Grief: William’s favorite moments are wordless ones beside Bea under the night sky; after her departure, he “memorizes every photo” in her scrapbook. His grief for his father is intertwined with his grief for Bea, and both are buried in his marriage.
• Found Family and Surrogate Parents: William’s family becomes Bea’s surrogate home. But as an adult, William fails to create the same stability for his own children; Rose worries about his absences and drinking.
• War’s Impact on Children: William’s guilt over enjoying life during war (bluefish catch, summer fun) echoes the novel’s broader examination of how children bear psychological costs. He tries to atone through war work but can never fully reconcile the comfort of his youth with the suffering abroad.
• Love, Loss, and Second Chances: William’s love for Bea is a “first chance” that slips away; his marriage to Rose is a second chance that fails to satisfy. The only second chance he gives is to Bea and Gerald, who ultimately marry in the house he loved.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does William feel guilty about his wartime life?

He tells Bea in chapter 31 that he feels guilty for enjoying himself—fishing, swimming, mowing lawns—while the war rages in Europe. He calculates the days until he can enlist and argues with his father about staying home for war work. His guilt is a driver of his restlessness and his eventual decision to study at Harvard at Bea’s urging, which he sees as a path to purpose.

2. Does William truly love Rose?

Interpretation: He marries Rose and fathers her children, but his emotional center never fully shifts from Bea. In chapter 81, Rose observes his drinking and distance; William quotes “What’s past is prologue,” implying his past with Bea shapes his present. He gives her yellow roses but cannot bridge the gap. The novel suggests he loves her as the mother of his children but not with the depth he felt for Bea.

3. Why does William track down Bea in London after his father’s death?

In chapter 60, he searches London phone listings until he reaches her. He buys flowers and recalls pressing wildflowers into a Shakespeare book. He needs to share his grief with someone who knew his father intimately—and with the one person who understood his secret self. The visit is both a tribute to his father and a final attempt to reconnect with Bea.

4. How does William’s relationship with his father affect him?

Ethan and William clash over William’s desire to stay home for war work; Nancy says they are “too alike.” After Ethan’s death, William goes to London partly because he cannot process the loss at home. He learns from Bea that his father played chess by mail with her—something William never knew—suggesting a gap in understanding that persists after death.

5. What is the significance of William’s death in the novel?

William’s offscreen death (ch. 94) serves as a catalyst: it brings Bea back to America, allows Gerald to step into the role of family caretaker, and forces Rose to confront her grief alone. His absence also frees Bea to marry Gerald and return to Maine, fulfilling the novel’s theme of second chances. William’s memory remains a ghostly presence—especially on his fiftieth birthday, when the whole family gathers at the house he loved.