Adam

Adam Gordon is the central character and narrator of the story. He is a recent graduate from Brown University, living in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally, Adam hails from Topeka, Kansas. Both of his parents are psychologists. Adam describes his father as gentle and kind and his mother as caring and affectionate. Early in his childhood Adam was diagnosed with some kind of dissociative anxiety disorder that led to him being medicated. Adam never names his condition, but he does refer to the pills that he takes to manage his anxiety and to his tranquilizers. At one point in the story, Adam questions in inner dialogue with himself, whether he is exhibiting psychological signs that would portend the onset of schizophrenia.

The story revolves around Adam’s time in Madrid, where is living as a part of a short-term residency fellowship sponsored through a Spanish foundation for the arts...