Chapter 14 Summary

Julius goes to visit Professor Saito for the first time since he returned from Brussels. Saito's home has been invaded by bedbugs. Julius reads the newspaper to the professor and the professor asks him to read the story in full about gay marriage. Julius thinks about how the professor's sexuality has come up a few times. When Julius returns home, he reads about bedbugs in his various medical journals. Before going to sleep, he checks his mattress for bedbugs but doesn't find anything.

Chapter 14 Analysis

The bedbug is symbolic of several different aspects of life. It represents the blood that the bugs suck from the human body - blood that is thought to have magical powers. Secondly, the bedbugs tend to bite in the hours leading up to dusk, which are the hours that most humans are sleeping and dreaming. Finally, bedbugs invade...