Summary

Chapter 36. One day, during one of the regular assemblies during which the scientists at Forsythe share their failed efforts, one demonstration seems to reveal a way in which language can be spoken harmlessly – an old man, connected by a tube to a child, speaks freely without any indication of suffering (he does so behind a barricade that prevents the audience from hearing). Samuel is reminded of something LeBov/Murphy said to him in their hut encounter earlier in reference to the idea of some kind of vaccine, or serum, being extracted from children: “everyone will soon come over to this approach … it needn’t cause any trouble. In the spirit of science” (192). The experiment is repeated, and always successfully, sometimes with the same man, usually with a different child. Samuel becomes less and less impressed, wanting to see what happens if the speaker...