"Have I not kept all thy commandments from childhood?
Have I ever failed to praise thee as the giver of my happiness, and ask thy blessing upon it?
What have I done that it should be taken away?
It was given to me only to be taken away.

Why was it given to me, then ?--that I might be mocked?
Oh, I am mocked, I am mocked!" he cried out, in a great rage, and he struck out in the darkness, and his heart leaped with futile pain.

The possibility that his misery might not be final never occurred to him.

It never occurred to him that he could enter Cephas Barnard's house again, ask his pardon, and marry Charlotte.

It seemed to him settled and inevitable; he could not grasp any choice in the matter.
Barnabas finally threw himself back on the pile of shavings, and lay there sullenly.