Chapter 14 Summary and Analysis

The legacy of Phil's breakdown is a year of seclusion at Glen Welby, indecision, guilt and occasional talk of suicide. Kay is continually "on call" to sit and talk with him and often feels a need for escape. She learns to say whatever he needs to hear. Phil receives treatment from Dr. Farber, a devotee of Rollo May's existential psychology. A weak man studying the importance of will in life, Farber instills in Phil a fear of drugs and refuses to label Phil's disease. They break every rule of psychiatry. Phil reads and edits Farber's research and reveals to Kay details of their sessions. Kay struggles to keep the children's lives normal and the outside world unsuspecting. She needs help but does not know how to admit it. Phil and Farber decide Kay should receive therapy too, and at one point...