Act II, Scene III Summary

Ill is headed to the train station with a suitcase, apparently planning to leave. The townspeople are gathered there, too, questioning him and offering to take him there. Suspicious, Ill declines and tries to go on his way, but they stand in his way. They ask him where he is going and he gives a few possibilities—none probably true—to get them off his case. He says there is no particular reason he is living, just that a man cannot live in the same place his whole life. The townspeople try to convince him to stay. Guellen, they say, is the safest place for him.

The schoolmaster asks why Ill is so suspicious and why he thinks the people are planning to kill him. He responds by pointing out all the new signs of...