Chapters 29 through 33 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 29, Painting and Family Happiness, the author states that his mother let him use a vacant family apartment as a studio. He turned it into a gallery for displaying his paintings, but no one came to see them and he realized that he needed to know his paintings would be seen and to feel the presence of those who would see them rather than working alone in a gloomy apartment. At home, he would paint scenes of family happiness, inspired by the softened tensions between his parents along with familiar, peaceful activities taking place in the household. As he would begin a painting, his parents would maintain their positions until he finished; this made it seem as if God had stopped time just for him, and in those moments, his family seemed happy.

Chapter 30, The Smoke Rising from...