Part 1: Chapter 9 Summary

Following a quarrel with Harry, Inez tries to think of times when she has been happy. There are few, but a time comes to mind in which she and Jessie had been staying in a guest house in Hong Kong; there had been danger of baby cobras in the gardens, so Inez had carried Jessie everywhere and had felt useful. Other memories involving her children are not so happy, though; in 1973, Adlai had been in a car accident that had crippled a 15-year-old girl, and that same year, Jessie had been found overdosed in her bedroom. In the present, Adlai has found a school that will enable him to avoid the draft, and Jessie has gone through a series of treatment institutions, although she is not even 18 years old.

Part 1: Chapter 9 Analysis

This chapter deals with motivations. Inez tries to be...