Summary

In Chapter XI, in the present, Teresa set out to look for Petros, hoping to have a significant conversation with him. She recalled an incident from her teenage years that had affected the course of her life. It was widely considered that she should go into law. Because of this, she spent time as a teenager observing court cases. In one case she watched, two men were accused of grievous bodily harm. It was argued that the younger of the men should be given a lighter sentence because of various extenuating circumstances: he had been mistreated growing up; his mother’s alcohol use during pregnancy may have affected his development, meaning that he did not have sufficient intellectual capacity to understand the consequences of his actions; and he had fallen under the negative influence of the older man. It was suggested that medical...