Summary

Chapter 6 is titled “The Problem of Evil.” Elizabeth is going to Amsterdam to participate in a conference about preventing evil in the world. After her lecture about animal slaughter being compared to the Holocaust, she received bad press, with one newspaper reporting: “PRIZE-WINNING NOVELIST ACCUSED OF ANTI-SEMITISM” (157). She thinks that she should have known better. The topic agreed upon for her lecture is “Witness, Silence, and Censorship” (160).

At the hotel, she first sees the program for the conference. Her bio lists her as “author of The House on Eccles Street” (161), as if she has had no other accomplishments as she has gotten older. She recognizes the name of Paul West on the list. She has recently read one of his books on Nazi Germany and Hitler’s would-be assassins. She has used his book as a reference in her lecture. She has considered...