Chapter 6 Summary

Merry is a Jain. She now believes in doing no harm to any living thing, and everything that exists is a living thing. She is emaciated and in rags, living in and among squalor, filth, abandoned warehouses, and debris. All the buildings and their parts have been stripped by thieves. She is working, through non-violence and self-denial, toward being a perfected soul, taking five vows of renunciation. Swede feels she would have lived better as one of Dawn's cattle. He wonders if he ever took her seriously enough, and whether he tried too hard with her. He remembers Merry calling him an automaton, a robot, accusing him of not thinking for himself. She admits she is not compassionate enough yet to quit eating plant life, but eventually she will give that up, as well. He realizes she has been mentally ill since she...