Summary

On the way home, Otto and William talked about family. Otto did not "see the point in it" (72). Their argument shifted into a conversation on sexual reproduction and biological tendencies. Otto grew disgusted with William's verbiage. William wanted to have a normal conversation. Otto conceded, repeatedly telling himself "to relax," then changed the subject (73).

While William practiced his violin, Otto brooded over Corinne's worries about Portia. He was glad Sharon had not come. He felt it was pointless to consider "the questions [that] hung all around one" (74). Otto believed that as soon as you tried to answer them, the questions became meaningless. Life’s “vagueness” and “banality” inspired madness (74). William's violin became abrasive to Otto. Suddenly the phone rang. The violin was so loud he could not "make any sense of what the person on the other end of it might be saying...