Part 2, Peace and Solitude: a Potpourri, Chapters 7-9 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 7, "Problems Large and Small," Miller resumes telling about his neighbor and benefactor who is trying to find herself. She and Miller both focus on the present and he senses that she has the power of healing. Her Blueprint for Living crystallizes her thought, which makes her more controversial and easier to ridicule. Wharton becomes a mentor, comforter, and healer to the oppressed, but her insistence that she is just an instrument of healing alienates people. Miller urges her not to rush in where angels fear to tread. Her life becomes hectic, erratic, and consuming as people refuse to be saved. This reminds Miller of how, since 1914 the U.S. has tried to fix the world's problems but has itself deteriorated. It is a young, diplomatically...