Chapter 8 Summary

After dinner in Hammond, Wisconsin, Richard concedes life can be interesting or dull, depending on what one makes of it and states he has never figured out why we are here. Shimoda insists they see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. At the climax, as the heroes are surrounded, Shimoda asks why Richard is here and then orders him to snap out of this illusion. Irked, Richard says he is at the movies because Shimoda has asked him - and he wants to see the ending.

Walking back to the planes, Shimoda explains laughingly Sundance is the answer to Richard's question of why we are here. Even the best movie is illusion, he says, and the pictures only appear to move. Richard lists many reasons why people go to films, but Shimoda categorizes them to entertainment or education. After Richard deduces movies must...