Chapter 23, Holes, Leeches, Tower Summary

The Narrator and the Chubby Girl continue making their way through a vast hazardous maze of sinkholes, whirlpools, and mounds of leeches. He thinks of old movies and goes into a sort of waking trance. He realizes that the operations performed to enable shuffling have stolen his memories from his conscious mind and the realization makes him furious. Finally they come to a giant stalagmite and climb to the top where they discover a knotted rope hanging from above. They climb the rope as the distant rumbling comes ever closer—it is rising water which is flooding the entire cavern system below them.

Chapter 23, Holes, Leeches, Tower Analysis

The pair continues their journey through the vast underground cavern system which is presumably the normal home of many INKlings. The water apparently floods the entire system every...