Section 20 Summary

This section begins with the phrase, "Everyone knows that such situations are hard to manage..."

The incident of Robinson's accident is hushed up, even though the neighbors gossip about it. Robinson has been blinded in the accident, but he fails to realize this for a while, since his eyes are bandaged. When he finally discovers that he is shut into "his own private darkness," he breaks down in tears. Though he threatens to kill himself, Bardamu can tell he is not serious about it. Everyone wants to die pleasantly, under the right conditions, thinks Bardamu and a despairing suicide probably does not meet Robinson's criteria. Under different conditions, Robinson might be delighted to die, however. Death is somewhat like marriage, Bardamu concludes.

Bardamu takes a new job supervising a government-funded tuberculosis center, which pays well. Bardamu's patients actually come to him with the...