Chapter 16 Summary

"Longitude 0°"

Crick returns to his present, and recounts from a third party perspective the discussion he has with his wife Mary concerning her increasing religiosity. Crick calls it schizophrenia, that she needs to see a doctor; it creates what Tom Crick describes as a type of separation, except neither of them is actually leaving the other.

Chapter 16 Analysis

Tom Crick tries to ground his wife to reality in this short chapter. He has mentioned in earlier chapters the importance of "stories and fairy tales"- he fears that his wife and her conduct are leading him into such a place in their own lives. The Crick's live in Greenwich, which has a longitude of 0°, the commencement of the world's time zones