Chapter Thirty-Five Summary

The Battle of Scipio, as Eugene dubs it, lasted five days and nights before the local authorities took control and shot the rioters to death. Eugene relates how he hid out and avoided being captured until the morning after the night the so-called Freedom Fighters first rioted. Eugene tells the reader about three older inmates who are lifers. When the rioted occurred, these men had been unable to participate. They could no longer imagine a world beyond the prison walls. Eugene has to tell them what has happened re: the riots, since the elderly men are too shell-shocked to understand. Eugene recalls how he had seen his wife Margaret briefly come out of her insane psychosis the night of the rioting when he stopped by their cottage to check on her and her mother. Margaret is convinced Eugene is going to...