Part IV, Chapters 1-5 Summary and Analysis

Mailer begins the first chapter by teasing the reader with an old Victorian method of introducing a digression at the pinnacle of the climax to add suspense. He tells about a British documentary filmmaker named Dick Fontaine who has used Mailer as a subject of his films in the past. Fontaine has also recently asked Mailer if he could film him during the March on the Pentagon, which Mailer agreed to under certain terms. Therefore, when Mailer crosses the rope line, Dick Fontaine is behind him with the camera rolling. A reporter darts up to Mailer and asks on camera why he was arrested. Mailer says that he transgressed a police line and that the arrest was done correctly. After this, he walks with the MP along a river. The MP's hand lightens up on...