Summary

The days ran together during the narrator’s time at Mann’s farm. She and her partner often walked the property and studied the landscape. One day, they found “an abandoned house” on a hillside and noticed that it was filled with the former tenant’s belongings (70). Shortly thereafter, they ran into an unkempt man outside their cottage. He was barefoot, dirty, and confused. Then Mann’s wife appeared and revealed that the man was Mann. She ignored him, asking the couple if they needed a fan for the cottage. Mann argued that they should not stay there if it was too hot for them. The couple began arguing about the way people lived. Mann hated that his wife subscribed “to bourgeois values,” and she hated that he chose “to live like an animal” (72).

That afternoon, Mann’s wife brought the...