Summary

Chapter 20 begins with Alfa drawing his seven hands for Doctor Francois. Doctor Francois, who had previously been enchanted by Alfa's talented drawings and friendly smile, is perturbed and distressed at the gore and violence of this new picture. "I drew them so that I could really see them, the way they were when I cut them off" (123). Alfa, by contrast is proud of his work. By this point in the novel, he has gotten rid of the seven hands. He tells readers how he did it: "One evening I decided to bury them. God's truth, I waited for the night of a full moon to do it" (124). He goes out to the west wing of the sanctuary and buries them under the moonlight. As he returned to his room, "I thought I saw a shadow slipping behind one of the big windows in...