Chapter 31, 32 and 33 Summary

They dine in Arcata, and resume the journey to San Francisco. Back in time at Chicago, the Platonic dialogue of "Phaedrus" was assigned to the class. This provided Phaedrus with an opportunity to challenge and perplex the professor in charge to such an extent that Phaedrus felt completely victorious in his quest to resolve his metaphysical dilemmas. However, he is overwhelmed by his new understanding and proceeds by stages into complete personality disintegration. Back on the road to San Francisco, it is dark and rainy. The Narrator pulls off to find lodging and after considerable difficulty locates a run-down motel. There, Chris again confronts him about not having a decent explanation of what they're up to and is reduced to fetal rocking. The Narrator realizes that Chris misses Phaedrus.

As Chapter 32 begins, the Narrator notices slugs on the ground everywhere. They...