Chapters 16, 17 and 18 Summary

In Chapter 16, after the meditation session ends, the narrative follows Mari out into the garden, where she lights a cigarette and contemplates Veronika's increasingly frequent piano playing which, to Mari, suggests that she is contemplating a return to life in the outside world, something that Mari believes is ultimately impossible. This contemplation leads Mari to consider what that life actually is, and to think about her own life which, narration reveals, was that of a lawyer. Narration then, and at length, looks at the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden from an unusual perspective, a process of idea triggering idea that leads Mari to decide that when she leaves Villete, she is going to live a much simpler, more honest life. This realization moves her thoughts back to Veronika, specifically to how Igor suggested that she be...