The Joke Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part Five: Ludvik Summary

Part Five: Ludvik Summary

Jahn sleeps well that evening and although he has been jarred with the sight of Lucie, he has now retracted her image back to an abstract state. He has told himself that no matter how much he used to love her and how unique he thought she was, she was bound to that time period and the landscape in which he found her. In another time and place, she would not be worth as much to him as she did back then. As he says himself, what he loves most about a woman is what she is just for him, not what she is for herself. However, since he has seen her, Jahn feels utterly indifferent towards the imminent arrival of Helena — and this disturbs him.

He walks around town, looking for a great breakfast but is unable to find one. While wandering around, he stumbles across a new...
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