Chapter 12 Summary

They arrive at Cooke City in a good mood. However, the Narrator discusses how specialization has lead to problems with human closeness and how his own emotional remoteness negatively affects his son. He presents a story told to Phaedrus by DeWeese, an abstract painter and former colleague at Bozeman, involving an operative during World War II who, because of a remarkable physical resemblance, had attempted to impersonate a German officer to gain vital intelligence. The operative was anxious the first time that he was in the presence of that officer's circle, and the Narrator speaks of how his relationship with Phaedrus is in many ways the same, especially with regard to being again in the presence of DeWeese. The travelers enter Yellowstone Park, and the Narrator mentions how Phaedrus had despised the park atmosphere for its artificiality. Then he digresses to discuss the...