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1. Explain the narrator's transformation from his day job to his writing.

Soares, the narrator, indicates that he does not mind his day job because getting off work liberates him. He turns from a pitiful office worker to a person who writes.

2. What does the narrator say his job and his rented room represent?

The narrator, says his job represents life. He believes his rented room represents art.

3. Where does the narrator's train trip take him? Why can't he recall any of the sights from his trip?

Soares, the narrator, takes a train trip from Lisbon to Cascais and back. He writes that he puts so much energy into trying to remember the sights he sees on the trip, that he is unable to recall anything at the end of the trip.

4. What does the narrator notice about a bad lithograph? What does he compare it to and why?

Soares writes about a bad lithograph of a sad-looking girl that he sees in a shop window. He compares the lithograph to a similar picture on a calendar in his office. However, Soares indicates the picture in the office does not show any signs of sorrow.

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