Summary

The Sympathizer recalls his handler at the CIA, Claude, and the time he spent at Michigan State University in the USA. Claude gave The Sympathizer a copy of Men without Women for his birthday, the first birthday gift The Sympathizer ever received. Claude was a fan of Ernest Hemingway, and often used literary analysis as the basis for his interrogation techniques. He believed that physical activity was its own art form. The Sympathizer practices “the art [he] learned from Claude” on the Mona Lisa for two weeks as they continue to hold him in the warehouse. Bon, Le Cao Boi, and the Ronin beat him, too. The Sympathizer observes that while he and Bon fulfill the torture efficiently, Le Cao Boi and the Ronin seem to relish it. The Boss is pleased that the Mona Lisa has been beaten but is...