Chapter 16 Summary

The Senator can feel a breeze on his face and hear Reverend Hickman's voice in the distance. However, all fades back into memory once more. The actions are experienced in a bizarre sequence of events with memories of Bliss' early childhood colliding with his political career. It is clear that the Senator is in a hallucinatory state. In his mind, Bliss sees wheat fields from which flocks of blackbirds spring, and he then walks down railroad tracks and watches a rabbit chased by dogs in a pasture. This image prompts Bliss' mind to move to a little rhyme told to him by a young woman one day, "Darling, love ain't nothing but a habit - hello, there, Mister Babbitt Rabbit."

Now, Bliss sees an old friend named Choc Charlie drinking a bottle of Chock beer on a back porch in an alley, in...