Chapter 5 Summary

Thompson wants to tell his wife Margery about Dr. Lynd, but he doesn't. They talk distantly about leaving Kenya. Thompson is upset when Margery suggests that maybe a black man will take his job. Margery remembers their younger years and wonders how they've grown apart, with Thompson wrapped up in his job. Margery washes the dinner dishes and anticipates missing Kenya. She thinks of her affair with Van Dyke. She was always jealous of him but couldn't show it in public, so they often fought. He talked with her about his work with meteorology. Margery both loved and hated him. Now, Van Dyke is dead. She wants to make a new connection with her husband, to talk with him. She kisses him on the ear, but loses her desire to talk and instead goes to bed.

As a young man, Thompson came to...