Summary

Chapter 4 opens with Trudy sunbathing, in a bathing suit, drinking wine outside. The narrator finally reveals to the reader that Claude is actually his uncle, which is driving him to hate his mother for abandoning a poet for an idiot. The narrative then shifts to John’s office, where Claude offers his brother a large sum of money, as he is falling behind on rent. John asks Claude if he wants to hear a poem about an owl, he refuses. John eventually takes the money.

Trudy then steps on some glass when coming inside. Claude comes home and finds her. He panics, as he thinks the blood is due to complications regarding the pregnancy. The two adults embrace and almost have sex on the bathroom floor. They talk about killing John and reveal that they are planning on placing the narrator in a...