Summary

As the evening progresses into nighttime, Don continues to drink and to read authors he admires, specifically William Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Don feels alternately hopeful and insecure about his own literary aspirations. He eventually falls asleep and has a dream in which he is standing in a large, overly full auditorium. A man is on a stage, addressing the crowd. Everyone in the crowd is deeply engrossed by the speech, but Don is unable to understand what the speaker is saying. Soon, an airplane flies overhead, and Don seems to be the only one who notices it. The plane is piloted by three women who smile at Don. The plane grows unsteady in the sky. Meanwhile, the gathered crowd grows angry and begins to chant Don’s last name, Birnam. All of a sudden, the building collapses, revealing the campus of the...