Chapter 16 and 17 Summary

The chapter begins with the Narrator and Chris starting on their hike into the mountains outside the DeWeese's. The Narrator mentions the conventional use of mountain climbing to represent spiritual quests, suggesting thereby that the climb he will be describing has spiritual import. He then begins an exposition of Phaedrus' exploration of the concept of Quality. Phase 1 had no rigid definition of Quality and persisted for most of his teaching days. He presented this as a productive period. Phase 2 featured a rigid definition for Quality, destroyed his life, and led to electrodes being implanted in his head. Examining Phase 1 in more detail, the Narrator reveals that it included creative experimentation with teaching methods intended to stimulate genuine engagement of the students in the pursuit of Quality work and thought. Receptivity and attentiveness were the hallmarks of this phase. The Narrator describes...