Pages 135 through 149 Summary and Analysis

In her third year of college, Donna abandons the idea of emulating Mary and tries to learn about herself. She struggles to free herself of the remnants of Willie and Carol that still remain. Donna meets a young man, Bryn, who seems to understand her immediately. He instinctively knows how to exist in her world. Still the old demons haunt Donna. After a year as friends, when Bryn holds her hand, she is terrified. Although Bryn had communication problems and went to a special school like Donna did, he does not suffer from hallucinations. His parents suspected he was schizophrenic. Bryn seems to have coped better than Donna. She realizes that she was only able to cope by allowing other characters to communicate for her.

Donna, deciding to face the past, learns from her father than some doctors had...