Section 40 Summary and Analysis

The final section begins on page 198. Bukowski opens with the main character "Mr. Radowski" meeting a very attractive woman in a bookstore. He proceeds to ask her out for drinks, and they go home together. Three weeks later, he asks her to marry him. She accepts, but tells him she does not love him. Following their marriage, Yevonna, the wife, begins to wear a long red gown that is rarely washed, and never changed. Radowski hires a maid, Felicia, whom he starts an affair with. The two women soon begin practicing witchcraft and voodooism. Yevonna becomes pregnant and becomes even more odd, telling Radowski she believes a devil is inside of her. The child is later born, and Yevonna becomes even more bipolar and schizophrenic. When Radowski sneaks a psychiatrist to the house, the doctor declares her insane, but when Radowski...