The Empress, Cinecittá, Tourists Summary and Analysis

Empress Eugénie was Napoléon III's wife, is the patroness of the hospital. Jean imagines following her during her visit. The Empress reaches out and touches Jean, telling him to be patient. Together they share a secret smile whenever he passes the Empress's stain-glass window.

The Naval Hospital was first founded as a children's hospital. The hospital is a maze of hallways that patients routinely become lost in. Jean finds getting lost as an opportunity to see new things. Berck slowly moved away from the care of children to the care special needs patients. Jean lives in a dead-end corridor, home to the "broken-winged birds" who nest there. The rehabilitation room brings them all together in a gruesome and noisy gathering.

The reader may feel that Jean is suffering from a bit of dementia...