Chapters 1-3 Summary

James Dixon is a young lecturer at a university and is reaching the end of his first year of a two-year probation period. Dixon dislikes his teaching job, but wants to keep the job for the security and the higher level of respect it earns him in comparison to other jobs he would qualify for.

In Chapter 1, James Dixon is speaking with his professor about music, Welch's passion. Dixon pretends interest because he needs to stay on Welch's good side in order to survive the rest of his two-year probation with the university. Dixon asks about Margaret, a fellow lecturer who has been staying with the Welch's since a stay in the hospital following a suicide attempt following a failed romance. Dixon is to have tea with the Welch's, forcing him to see Margaret for the first time since she left...